woodsrunner38
Member
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2011
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- 33
Yea, lopaka.....! I went through SERE at Colorado Springs back in '70, and could I have caught a 'dillo OR a mountain lion, I'd have eaten that sucker in a heartbeat!
Armadillos anyone ?
- Thread starter whetrock
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repmurcs
Member
I belong to another forum and I was surprised to find out they are becoming a real problem (kentuckyhunting.net) in Kentucky. Just great Pigs, Wild cats, Squatch, Rednecks & now Dillo's. It's Armageddon I tell ya.
Nimrod2
Member
Our hunting lease in SW Mississippi was densely infested with the critters for years and then they just disappeared. Don't know why but the population is returning after a few years. My un-scientific theory was that Mother Nature sent something through the herd to thin them out.
351 WINCHESTER
Member
Dillas do come and go in cycles. Some years they are everywhere and other years I see very few.
Certaindeaf
member
I heard they have some serious neck armor/gristle. AP 30-06 minimum.
MtnCreek
Member
I’ve been battling them for a few years now. Here’s a couple of tips.
If you know where they are gaining access, you can trap them. I have two locations where the dillos go under my fence. There are other locations, but these are the main two. I set live traps at the access points and have caught a few this way.
I’ve searched for and found several dens. It would probably be illegal to pour a few gallons of gas in the hole….
If you have a dog large enough to tangle w/ a dillo, show him a dillo kill. He’ll figure it out after that. At first, my dog was not effective at dillo extermination, but he has since figured it out.
I had to make some adjustment to a few structures where dillos would make dens. Dog lot has a deck they were getting under, kid’s playhouse, barn. Survey your place to see if there is any work needed to keep them from making a den in your yard.
Shooting dillos: A subsonic .22 with a good shot will make them DRT. A not so perfect shot will send them running aimlessly and there is no telling where they’ll stop to die (that’s why there’s lattice board around the kid’s playhouse). .22 works, but bigger is better IMHO. After a good rain is a great time to go on dillo patrol.
Good Luck!
If you know where they are gaining access, you can trap them. I have two locations where the dillos go under my fence. There are other locations, but these are the main two. I set live traps at the access points and have caught a few this way.
I’ve searched for and found several dens. It would probably be illegal to pour a few gallons of gas in the hole….
If you have a dog large enough to tangle w/ a dillo, show him a dillo kill. He’ll figure it out after that. At first, my dog was not effective at dillo extermination, but he has since figured it out.
I had to make some adjustment to a few structures where dillos would make dens. Dog lot has a deck they were getting under, kid’s playhouse, barn. Survey your place to see if there is any work needed to keep them from making a den in your yard.
Shooting dillos: A subsonic .22 with a good shot will make them DRT. A not so perfect shot will send them running aimlessly and there is no telling where they’ll stop to die (that’s why there’s lattice board around the kid’s playhouse). .22 works, but bigger is better IMHO. After a good rain is a great time to go on dillo patrol.
Good Luck!
MtnCreek
Member
You're a brave man; I wouldn't go less than API.
NelsErik
Member
OkieGentleman
Member
Armadillos in Oklahoma
I saw my first armadillos in Oklahoma about 1962.
One of the funniest things I ever saw was my step-dad trying to stop one from digging under the house while our dog tried to eat it. The armadillo got tired of the dog chewing on his tail and my step-dad poking at it with a shovel. So it turned around and ran between the old man's legs with the dog right behind and chewing on its tail. The man flat footed at least 4 feet into the air, spread eagled, threw the shovel away and yelled louder than I ever heard him yell before. Fortunately the shovel missed everyone. But 50 years later and I can close my eyes and remember what he looked like spread eagled and four feet off the ground. We had not seen many of the blasted things and as far as the old man knew that armadillo was going to run up his leg and eat pieces off of him. The family has laughed about that for years at family reunions and get togethers.
I saw my first armadillos in Oklahoma about 1962.
One of the funniest things I ever saw was my step-dad trying to stop one from digging under the house while our dog tried to eat it. The armadillo got tired of the dog chewing on his tail and my step-dad poking at it with a shovel. So it turned around and ran between the old man's legs with the dog right behind and chewing on its tail. The man flat footed at least 4 feet into the air, spread eagled, threw the shovel away and yelled louder than I ever heard him yell before. Fortunately the shovel missed everyone. But 50 years later and I can close my eyes and remember what he looked like spread eagled and four feet off the ground. We had not seen many of the blasted things and as far as the old man knew that armadillo was going to run up his leg and eat pieces off of him. The family has laughed about that for years at family reunions and get togethers.
osprey176
Member
When I lived in Florida,we refered to armadillos as MBG's-Mobile Ballistic Gelatin.Also.varmadillos,and when the camp kitchen was low, dinner.When shot in the shoulder,with a .22,they do the "Death Dance,"consisting of multiple backflips until they run out of steam.We used to sneak up on them with machetes and relieve them of their tails.Then when they tried to run,they did backflips because they use that tail with the back legs to run/hop away.We sometimes caught and brought them home ,but you have to put them in a box for the trip,as they will easily jump out of the pickup.Good times...
351 WINCHESTER
Member
I'll be the first to admit that I have killed my share of dillas, but for those of us that shoot them we should always stive for a clean kill. I hate to see any critter suffer. CCI Stingers work wonders on them as does a .22 mag.
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
No, they were not native to Florida, though they may be now. Armadillos were basically isolated to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas until about 1900 when they began an northern migration and their spread across Texas and into OK, AR, LA, etc. has been well documented. They did leapfrog into Florida with the help of people, though they may be there now quite naturally just like they are in many states quite naturally, through simply range expansion.
Looking to early records can be enlightening. Here is a good review for Florida...
http://www.fosbirds.org/sites/default/files/FFNs/FFNv02n1p8-10Stevenson.pdf
Here is a bit out of date paper that is interesting on their biogeography...
http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/courses/Fall99Projects/armadillo.htm
.
Yarddog
Member
The floods could have gotten rid of them in them states, Have'nt seen manny in te last few years or so ; )
Y/D
Y/D
Blue68f100
Member
They are a big pita, and really tear up a yard. Several years ago I had trapped one that was 36" long. The largest I have ever seen, body length 18" long. Trapping it was an adventure. It had burrowed under the house, I heard it at night. So I setup a wood trap. Just after 10:30pm the trap went off. I said to my self good I will deal with in the morning. Well 15 min later I heard the trap door again. Not possable to catch another. I went and checked, sure enough it escaped. So I set the trap again but this time I put the Double door Wire trap on the other side of the den. At midnight the metal trap tripped. I figured with the locking metal bars it would be ok till morning. NOT. It kept bouncing the door till it got out. Since I was already up I went back out and set it again. At around 2:00am the metal trap went off again. There not the brightest animals. So this time I grab the 22 and shoot it, and went back to bed. The reason this one kept getting out was that he was so long. On the wood trap the drop doors landed on it tail. On the wire cage, they just use brute force till they bound the locks loose.
Texas Speed Bumps.......
Texas Speed Bumps.......
interlock
Member
... a long time ago, i did some sneaky beaky work. Helicopter resupply wasn't an option. we ate loads of them. Tasted ok... but as others have pointed out - on hard routine nearly anything tasted good.
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
That vertical leap deal is quite often a Bad Thing. Dragging a shredder along behind a tractor and every now and then there would be a "Thump!" and I'd look back and see miscellaneous armadillo parts scattered about.
But they can be vicious creatures. I've seen 'em lying on their backs on a highway, waiting to grab a car...
But they can be vicious creatures. I've seen 'em lying on their backs on a highway, waiting to grab a car...
Certaindeaf
member
^ lol.
CollinLeon
member
They can definitely jump high. I've seen them jump 5 ft or so in the air after being shot with bird shot (it wasn't powerful enough to punch through their shell). For the next shot, I had to shoot them in the air at the top of the jump. The jump is probably a survival mechanism. It worked pretty good when all they had to worry about were animals like horses and such. It would spook the animal that was walking over the top of them and the animal would go away. It doesn't work so well on 18-wheelers -- they just jump up into the bottom of the vehicle -- SPLAT.
Flintknapper
Member
Art Eatman wrote:
Yeah, what is it about them ending up on their backs about 80% of the time?
All through the 70’s it was common for someone to stop and place a beer bottle (or can) in their outstretched paws any time one was encountered dead on the road.
Gave the appearance of a ‘dillo …..”passed out”.
Yeah, what is it about them ending up on their backs about 80% of the time?
All through the 70’s it was common for someone to stop and place a beer bottle (or can) in their outstretched paws any time one was encountered dead on the road.
Gave the appearance of a ‘dillo …..”passed out”.
Flintknapper
Member
Ed4032 wrote:
Starting about San Antonio and Southward....it doesn't work.
Starting about San Antonio and Southward....it doesn't work.
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