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Another armadillo in deep Southern Illinois

P

PJH

Well-known Member
Doggone thing was on the back step when I stepped outside tonight. Wife grabbed the 22 pistol while I watched it so it wouldn't get away. I don't like killing something for the sake of killing, but my Texas friends tell me that they're not desirable creatures. Second one we've found this year.
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Gees I was born and raised in Southern Illinois and I never saw an armadillo until I moved to Texas. You are right they are bad to have around. They will tunnel under your house foundation and root and dig up your yard. At night they will give you the willies as they sound like a person walking through the woods.
 
Paul: just wondering...where is the best place to shoot an armadillo and is there any danger of ricochet with all that armor?

I hate to see those things getting established here. The dang groundhogs are bad enough!
 
Don't know anything about them Gary - I shot (at) this one twice. First shot stopped him, but I don't know if I hit him, or he just stopped because that's what they do. Second shot was a sure thing. That thought goes through my mind too - is the armor tough enough to withstand a gunshot? In addition to shooting at a moving target (which I'm not real good at) I had a dog involved that I did not want to hit. I don't want to handle the things - I've been told that they carry horrible communicable diseases, so anything closer than a pitchfork handle is too close for me.
 
My wife and I took a ride down to Baldwin not long ago.Saw one on the side of Baldwin Rd with all fours straight up.
 
They will dig lots of holes in your yard, garden, wherever. They dig burrows big enough for a basket ball. Makes tractor rides lots of fun.

DO NOT TOUCH WITH YOUR BARE HANDS!!!! 5% of armadillos carry leprosy. That's not a joke. Other than man, they are the only animal that contracts leprosy.
 
They give me the willies - especially on the back porch. It's like a creature from another planet.
 
Thanks Nancy - you are the voice of experience. We found a big burrow in our woods that makes a groundhog burrow look like a minor thing. Maybe that's what made the burrow. Every time I kill one (this is the second one) I hopefully think it's the last, but I guess that's wishful thinking.
 
In my opinion, a ricochet would be very unlikely. While the "armor" is thick and tough, a bullet will easily penetrate.

Head shot is best, but body shot will work.

The armadillo population around here is dwindling. I believe the coyotes have learned how to kill them. We have seen numerous carcasses out in the field.
 
(quoted from post at 21:57:43 08/18/14) Doggone thing was on the back step when I stepped outside tonight. Wife grabbed the 22 pistol while I watched it so it wouldn't get away. I don't like killing something for the sake of killing, but my Texas friends tell me that they're not desirable creatures. Second one we've found this year.
Click to expand...

I don't know what the average temperature is where you're at but I keep waiting for a siting around here as it's pretty mild in the winter; but if their burrows are very deep and they hibernate it seems like they could migrate to pretty much any where in the lower 48 (wild hogs have been spotted within 40-50 miles of here here, already). :shock:
 
While traveling Tx with dad in 1949&1950 there were only a few dillos South of what is IH-20 now. By 1960 the danged things were thick in far North Tx. Old timers claimed they would never make it to Ok because they couldn't swim Red River. When they showed up in Ok there were stories about seeing dillos crossing the bridge late at night. My dog chased one into a clear spring pool and it kept on running right accross the bottom and up the opisite bank. Did I ever tell yall how humming birds hitch a ride on geese during migration?LOL
 
That one roaming the dark Honey Grove Tx theater in 1957 during the mid-night show gave people the willies too. I don't know their names but rumor is one young heathen who had paid addmission opened an exit door so another one could sneek in with dillo in a burlap bag.
 
My relatives in Texas claim that armadillos jump into the air just before you hit them so that they can damage your grill.
 
I'll tell you one thing they are...strong!

Had them live trapped in 12 x 24, maybe 12, 14 gage cage wire. And they muscle their way out. The door that drops down at the entry after the critter has hit the food tray..they must back into it and really dig in because at the attach points of the hinge for the trap door, it is bent upward to the point the door can forced open on the sides..Had a guy tell me it probably was a banded armadillo...really strong. Need a thicker wire live cage to trap them successfully. They are easy to trap after you figure out their nightly trails..usually alongside buildings.
 
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