Rampaging armadillos

[Monkeyleg]

Looks like I have another chore when I get home from my vacation: dealing with a couple of rampaging armadillos.

It started a few nights ago when one armadillo dug his way under our fence and got in the back yard. Last night he was joined either by a buddy or by a female in heat. At any rate, they woke my wife and dog about 3 am this morning. They were knocking over patio chairs, watering cans, banging against the bedroom door that opens to the patio, tearing up my wife's flower bed, and more.

It reminds me of LawDog's story, but my wife isn't laughing.

Guys in the country just shoot them, but I don't think the local police would appreciate me using my M4-gery or a .45 in the middle of the night.

Any suggestions on scaring them away or just whacking them?

[bedlamite]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv5RICL4gIs

[MillCreek]

Careful, you can contract leprosy from armadillos.  About a third of all USA leprosy cases are from contact with infected armadillos, usually in the context of skinning or eating them.

[RoadKingLarry]

Those nasty vermin are kind of hard to kill and I've not heard of anyone successfully trapping them.
My advice is to take off and nuke the site from high orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

I've killed a half dozen or so of them over the years, a couple with bow and the rest with rifles. .22 rf is marginal unless you get a head shot. A nice flat point cast .357 mag round from a carbine settles their hash pretty well though.

[Monkeyleg]

I've killed a half dozen or so of them over the years, a couple with bow and the rest with rifles. .22 rf is marginal unless you get a head shot. A nice flat point cast .357 mag round from a carbine settles their hash pretty well though.

I live in the city, though.

MillCreek, are you serious? I didn't know leprosy existed in the US.

[Bigjake]

Inside the city limits,  I'm a big fan of a CB long .22.  Quiet enough to not attract attention,  and enough oomph to put most smallish critters down. 

Illegal?  Sure,  but what isn't.  It's less powerful than a 1000 fps bb gun,  and pretty accurate.

[drewtam]

I'm thinking a hunting bow can pierce the hide well enough for a good kill. Plus bows are mostly quiet and not as psychologically offensive to city sensibilities. That is why all the serious ninjas use them.

Keep a 22 or 45 or machete handy just in case you miss the vitals.

[MillCreek]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/04/27/armadillos.spreading.leprosy/index.html

I am quite serious about armored rodents getting payback upon us.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

CB longs work fine. Hit them in the head or neck area.

[Stetson]

We used a crossbow in town, a .22lr and a 12ga shotgun at the grandparents ranch.  A .22 will work just fine, head shots should be easy if they are that close.  They can't see worth $#^& but their hearing is okay.  Sense of smell is incredible.  I usedtacould be able to sneak up on them and whack em with a shovel but it's been so long since...

You CAN catch them with one of those "Hav-a-Heart" traps but that's not near as much fun.  Use peanut butter as bait.

[CNYCacher]

95% of people are immune to Leprosy, which is a bacterial disease that can be cured with antibiotics.  I would be more worried about contracting rabies, or shooting myself accidentally.

[HankB]

A magnum air rifle like an RWS M48 will kill an armadillo - at least inside of 20 yards - and is reasonably quiet.

[Monkeyleg]

or shooting myself accidentally.

Who are you, Sarah Brady?

I might just talk with all the neighbors around me and see if they'd be okay with hearing a couple of .223 rifle shots. I don't have a .22, and I probably couldn't get close enough with a .45 or .38 to get a single clean shot to the head or vitals.

[Jamisjockey]

Armadillos are dumb and nearly blind.  Whack with shovel, scoop with shovel, dispose of.

[CNYCacher]

Who are you, Sarah Brady?

I might just talk with all the neighbors around me and see if they'd be okay with hearing a couple of .223 rifle shots. I don't have a .22, and I probably couldn't get close enough with a .45 or .38 to get a single clean shot to the head or vitals.

It's pretty close to the 4th of July.  Maybe one or two shots won't get reported.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

It's pretty close to the 4th of July.  Maybe one or two shots won't get reported.

Monkeyleg, make sure that your wife goes on vacation that night. For the lulz. Then your nosier neighbors will have something to talk about.

[lupinus]

Hear they taste like chicken and have a built in cooking/serving vessel.

Just sayin....

[roo_ster]

Shotgun at 10 paces works, or so I hear.

[KD5NRH]

Who are you, Sarah Brady?

I once reflexively tried to kick a skunk away at the same time I consciously pointed a pistol at it and squeezed the trigger.

Luckily the confusion from the reflexive action caused my thumb to slip past the safety while pressing down to disengage it.

[Bogie]

A 110 or 125 grain Hornady XTP hollowpoint on top of a case full of slow pistol powder run through my .357 carbine works VERY nicely on 'dillos.
 
Of course, due to the construction of the 'dillos, the speed of the projectile, and the construction of the projectile, things get a little messy.
 

[AZRedhawk44]

Handgun + suppressor + subsonic loads = no more armadillos + blissfully ignorant neighbors.

[Monkeyleg]

Handgun + suppressor + subsonic loads = no more armadillos + blissfully ignorant neighbors.

Yeah, my wife asked about a "silencer". I told her about the Form 4 (which would arrive weeks after the little buggers went elsewhere) and the cost.

I could do as suggested by CNYCacher, and have my wife shoot off some leftover fireworks while I dispose of the critters in the back yard.

[sanglant]

just to keep anyone from shooting anything they didn't mean to. a .22CB is a bit more powerful then an air rifle, unless you're talking about a .22+cal air rifle. always remember the weight.


here's a calculator that'll put it better then i can.

now the agulia super colibri on the other hand , and there's the regular one to. but it's kinda week for anything bigger then a rat.

[KD5NRH]

I could do as suggested by CNYCacher, and have my wife shoot off some leftover fireworks while I dispose of the critters in the back yard.

Grab a rifle with a long barrel, load up some heavy, subsonic rounds, and have your wife drop sheets of plywood in the garage while you do your pest control.

[grampster]

Back in 1963, while on Spring Break in Daytona Beach, I saw a drunken peer of mine walking down the street with an armadillo in his arms along with a bottle of vodka.  The drunken peer would take a slug of vodka and then give a slug to the armadillo.  The armadillo appeared to enjoy the experience.  I did not see what happened after that as the police cruiser that I was in the back seat of needed to go to the city jail for some reason.