Armadillos

[Mandella1099]

Just wondering if anyone had opinions on shooting armadillos. I have shot a few, but in my opinion, they are the absolute easiest thing to hunt in the woods. I thought possums were dumb, but I have had armadillos run right up to me at night with a white light on them. They were close enough to kick if I had wanted to put 'em through the uprights. I thought I would check on here for similar stories or to see what the going opinions were....

 

[king killer delete]

ever tried to trap one? They are had to trap.

 

[Barehunter]

I trap upwards of 100 a year. Just removed number 14 between two adjoining houses. They are easy to trap...just gotta know how to set it up.

 

[king killer delete]

yep I got one and It works.

 

[frdstang90]

I shoot them in bow season.

 

[ilbcnu]

nasty things will decimate your turkey eggs.

 

[Wild Turkey]

And trash your lawn. I kill everyone i see.

 

[SlipperyHill Mo]

Well, share your trapping secrets.

 

[king killer delete]

wooden trap scented with another dilla.

 

[Barehunter]

Well, share your trapping secrets.

I buy 100 foot rolls of orange mesh construction fence and cut them into thirds...rougly 16 inches high, then cut them to 25 feet long. I set double door Comstock cages in areas they are likely to travel and make an "X" funnel with the construction fence. If you can place this against a retainer wall, fence etc then all the better. Also I locate dens and set trap in front of den and block it off so he has little option but to go in the trap. I recently set a double door trap in the middle of an Armadillo trail with no blocking other than natural vegetation and have caught 10 Dillers and 2 Possums.

 

[Hammer Spank]

nasty things will decimate your turkey eggs.

That is a completely false statement.

 

[The Longhunter]

I don't see any reason to shoot armadillos in the woods.


Unless you're really really hungry.


Seriously, they aren't bothering a thing in the woods.

 

[dh88]

They are fun to shoot with trad bows but they are tough as nails.i will shoot everyone I see,they are a nonnative invasive species that need to die.

 

[shakey gizzard]

I don't see any reason to shoot armadillos in the woods.


Unless you're really really hungry.


Seriously, they aren't bothering a thing in the woods.

Just like coyotes, they are non native and invasive!

 

[The Longhunter]

They are fun to shoot with trad bows but they are tough as nails.i will shoot everyone I see,they are a nonnative invasive species that need to die.

Just like coyotes, they are non native and invasive!

If you have the kind of personality that just needs to shoot something for the sake of shooting it, have at it.

Saying that they are "non-native and invasive" as a justification for shooting them is a non-sequitur, as both species are here as the result of normal range expansion over hundreds of years, which is a normal biological process. Right now, today, coyotes and armadillos are as "native" as anything else in the state.

Like I said, sort of, I don't get all butt hurt if you want to shoot armadillos for the sake of shooting them, that seems to feel a need for some people, but shooting them because they are "non-native" is thin, especially when they don't compete with any "native" species, or cause any damage to "native" species.

 

[steelshotslayer]

I have to go with the other guys on this they are definitely a varmint that needs eradicating. They have very very few natural predators and do a number to the natural worm and insect population and more evident the quail population. A study released by UGA showed armadillos the #3 predator to quail nests which already take a beating from fireants which also are non native. If you don't want to shoot them more power to you, but just because people see the reality in situations with non-native species doesn't mean they are crazy just gotta kill somethin nuts that need a justification.

 

[steelshotslayer]

I buy 100 foot rolls of orange mesh construction fence and cut them into thirds...rougly 16 inches high, then cut them to 25 feet long. I set double door Comstock cages in areas they are likely to travel and make an "X" funnel with the construction fence. If you can place this against a retainer wall, fence etc then all the better. Also I locate dens and set trap in front of den and block it off so he has little option but to go in the trap. I recently set a double door trap in the middle of an Armadillo trail with no blocking other than natural vegetation and have caught 10 Dillers and 2 Possums.

Guys I follow this gentleman on facebook and a close friend of mine Brett knows him very well he knows what he is doing when it comes to trapping.

 

[JohnK]

I saw one in the road just south of Adairsville last week. That's the first time I've seen one around here. Why are they moving north?

 

[Rich Kaminski]

Armadillo's

They are the only animal in North America to be carriers of Leporecy. Be careful.

 

[The Longhunter]

They have very very few natural predators and do a number to the natural worm and insect population and more evident the quail population.

A third of earthworms are non-native, including the common ones used for fishing and they have a deleterious effect on deciduous forests.

In some forests
earthworm invasion leads to reduced availability
and increased leaching of N and P in soil horizons
where most fine roots are concentrated. Earthworms
can contribute to a forest decline syndrome,
and forest herbs in the genera Aralia,
Botrychium, Osmorhiza, Trillium, Uvularia, and
Viola are reduced in abundance during earthworm
invasion.

Earthworm invasion into previously earthworm-free
temperate and boreal forests
Lee E. Frelich Æ Cindy M. Hale Æ Stefan Scheu Æ
Andrew R. Holdsworth Æ Liam Heneghan

I don't have space to list the non-native insect species, the grubs of which are prey to armadillos.

“Quail are like chicken nuggets of the world. Everything out there eats quail. Ants eat quail. We have photographs of deer eating quail.�