I wrote earlier about Operation Armadillo. Here is an update on its progress.
I grew up in a more rural part of Florida. Creatures getting in and around your house was the norm. Maybe I was naive to think that “Downtown” (we’re close enough to borrow the term, I think) I would be limited to the insect variety. Ants, roaches and termites would be the worry.
Then came the rats. Our affection for citrus trees encourages them as much as their love for the urban environment. Possums have scared the daylight out of me but the nifty trash cans from OUC have minimized that trouble.
But the armadillos. They are driving me crazy. I have seen them as road kill. I have seen the marks on the yard from their dinner escapades. I knew they were around. But a pair have taken up under my house. I think.
A few weeks ago my dogs went nuts. At 3 in the morning. I checked, nothing. Over and over again the same thing. I found nothing in the yard, no sign of humans or animals. I decide to hang. And then I heard it. The sound of something crawling under the house right at my backdoor. I run out and meet mister (or mrs) armadillo trying to get back under. Grabbing a broomstick, I try to deter it (i.e. beat it away) unsuccessfully. Then follows in his/her partner as I am trying to find where the first crawled to.
Now I am freaking out. Are they burrowing under my foundation? I hear a million new creak in the floor. Are they disease ridden? A new baby makes you jump on those thoughts immediately. How to get rid of them? With the internet a my guide, because everything there is true, I find that you have to trap them. And getting some one real to do the work is expensive, for a teacher’s salary at least.
So, I setup my rig you can see it in the picture. [You can click the link and my flickr page will give you some nifty details]
Then I wait. Nothing for 2 weeks. Then dogs went nuts last night. Battle time.
The first one got away. It nudged some of my trap aside. But I got there for the second. I guided it into the dog cage and slammed the door shut. But there was a problem. In my haste and excitement I ran out to the backyard in my underwear and a pair of leather gloves. At 3 am in the morning. Now that I had an armadillo captured I calmed down and realized that anyone that might see me would think I am some kind of rapist or, at the least, a super freak that belonged in jail. Plus I was itching to run after the first. Prancing like that in the front yard would be very bad.
I run inside, dress in shorts and a shirt, grab flip-flops and run back outside. Not even 2 minutes. Armadillo is gone. It got out of a locked, steel dog cage. It isn’t the sturdiest thing but there wasn’t a gap big enough for something that size to get through. The ante is now raised. I am either dealing with Houdini reincarnated in a bad karmic deal or a deaf, blind, armored, supernatural rodent thing. Neither prospect is good.
The first one must have been smart as well. It hid in the bushes at my neighbors house. 3 am, bushes, not my house, not gonna do it. Go back to the super freak and/or rapist perception.
Never mind that I have yet to figure out what to do with them once I have them.
Back to the drawing board. I was told that Home Depot has traps. Gonna try again tonight.
If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment. Also if you have any recipes. I read that they eat them in Texas.
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Hey Tim, sorry to hear about your varmit problem. We have issues with cats and raccoons. I have an official trap from county animal control. You may consider talking to the Orange County animal control. They bring the trap no charge and once it is captured they come and get it. By the way - wouldn’t mind a return call.