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Florida Armadillo Control and Removal

Armadillo Info: The Nine-Banded Armadillo is an unusual creature. It is very ancient, in a family similar to anteaters. They have the unique advantage of wearing a suit of armor, made of bone-like material. They are not native to Florida, but thrive in this warm climate with soft soil. They dig for all of their food, which consists primarily of grubs and earthworms. They also dig large, deep burrows into the ground in which they live and raise young. Armadillos always have identical quadruplets. They have an excellent sense of smell. When startled, they often jump straight up, then run surprisingly fast. They are usually about two feet long and about 12 pounds as adults. They are primarily nocturnal, but sometimes emerge after a rain or in cool weather.


Nuisance concerns: Armadillos are expert diggers. They can cause serious damage to a lawn or a nicely landscaped area. However, most of the calls I get regarding armadillos involve their large burrows. They often dig holes in undesirable places, such as underneath a concrete porch, the foundation of a house, or near gas/water lines. If they remove too much dirt from under a concrete foundation, the foundation faces the danger of cracking. Their burrows also attract other animals, such as opossums. If you see a large hole on your lawn
or property with a lot of dirt thrown out, that's the work of an armadillo. There is no effective armadillo repellent available, although I've seen dozens of different attempts over the years. The only way to solve an armadillo problem is to have them trapped and removed. It's not an easy task, and it's illegal for a homeowner to trap and relocate an armadillo in the state of Florida.

PHOTOS: For great pictures of armadillo trapping and removal, click on my: Armadillo Photographs gallery.



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If you want to know how to get rid of armadillos, my honest recommendation is to call a professional trapping company, because of laws surrounding wildlife capture, and more importantly, because the task is not easy, and experience helps a great deal. There is no such thing as an easy armadillo poison or something to keep away pest armadillos. 24/7 Wildlife Removal operates in the Greater Orlando area of central Florida. This is a specialty wildlife removal business. Wild animal control is all I do - I do not spray poison for insect control. I provide armadillo trapping and removal for armadillo control. I do not run an exterminating business or a pest control business, I run a nuisance wildlife business. I do not provide extermination of armadillos, but humane armadillo trapping and relocation. If you want to get rid of your armadillo problem once and for all, give me a call!

Nine Banded Armadillo Biology and Information
Scientifically known as the Dasypus novemcinctus, these armored mammals live in the lowest regions of America and many parts of South America. There have been recent population studies that are showing their numbers increasing even further north in the USA.

Biology
These animals are mostly nocturnal and can be found in a wide range of different habitats. They are insectivores. They live off a diet of bugs and will spend many hours sniffing, digging and using their unique tongue to scoop up meals. They do occasionally supplement with amphibians and carrion when the need arises. They can weigh up to twenty-two pounds and measure close to two feet from tip of their snout to tip of the tail. They are covered in a hard shell or armor except with their underbellies and on their legs. They run on colder body temperatures so tend to live in semi-tropical climates. These animals are capable of holding their breath for as many as six minutes; a feat that is accredited to their evolving to shove their snout into dirt for long periods of time in search of food.

Life Cycle And Reproduction
A female armadillo gestates for four months before giving birth to a set of four identical twins. This means that a single egg was fertilized with a single sperm and it splits four times to create four identical babies. These young live in their mother’s burrow and nurse for about twelve weeks before starting to wander off to forage with their mom. They work alongside their mother for about six months to a year before moving on to start living on their own. They are sexually mature at a year and able to mate and will continue to do so every year for about twelve to fifteen.

Habitat
This animal has been migrating further and further north and is expected to reside as far north as Ohio and Pennsylvania within the next couple of years. For the longest time they were only in the very southern parts of America as well as many places in South America. They are adaptable and seem to be populating quite a bit more and slowly throughout the North American regions. They enjoy living in dense brush, burrows or dens.

Common Diseases These Animals Can Spread
Although these animals can get the human form of leprosy there isn’t much else armadillos can carry that’s an immediate danger to people. Like countless wild animals these mammals can carry many different types of parasites that can cause problems. They can have worms in their droppings that the family dog can ingest. They don’t often even carry fleas and only occasional a tick. They are more commonly a problem because of the destruction. If they do decide to create a den in part of your home you will want to be careful when removing the scat as it can carry many unpleasant health problems.

Common Nuisance Complaints
Armadillos are voracious diggers. They are always after bugs and tend to find them in the loose aerated soil surrounding flower beds. They can be quite agile and very determined so once they have found an area that is rich in the insects they are after they will return to feed over and over again. In addition to that, there are many armadillos that will dig burrows under porches and close to the foundation of a home. Their burrowing may cause problems with landscaping, cement and pipelines. Read more about why do armadillos dig. There are other families who complain about the presence of these animals and the problems it causes with their family pets. Also, as these animals spread further north and it seems evident they are lacking many natural predators there is some concern over the natural environment. People fear there will be a lot of the animals found dead on the sides of the road.

Armadillos Under A Deck or House - Armadillos are animals that will generally prefer to live in rural areas with very little human habitation where possible, but there are increasing numbers of these animals that are being seen in urban areas. They will naturally look for burrows that have already been dug by other animals, and many armadillos will see the cavity under a deck as a great place to live. They will be attracted to these areas because of the shelter and darkness provided by the decking, and the fact that they will very rarely have the scent of other animals which could deter an armadillo. These animals will often become an issue where they start to try and get to your lawn and garden while they are looking for food, and they can often leave dirt strewn over a garden if they do find accessible grubs and worms. If you do encounter this problem then the most sensible thing to do is to try and exclude the armadillo from your property and to try and store any garbage so that the armadillos can’t get to it. This is achieved by using wire mesh around the majority of the cavity under the decking, and then using a cage trap, set in the right spot with no bait, to catch the armadillo. It should then be released at least five miles from your property.

Armadillo Removal Product - There are a number of products that claim to be able to help people to deal with an armadillo problem, but the reality is that the majority of these are little more than foul smelling substances that will rarely get rid of the animal. Although the repellents that people will sprinkle around their gardens may seem like a good idea, they will rarely be successful as the armadillo will usually be attracted to the yard or garden for a specific reason. The attraction of garbage to rummage through or a cavity under a shed to burrow in will be much more important than the inconvenience of a smell. However, this doesn’t mean that people will have to suffer the problems caused by armadillos without taking any action. Some people will be looking for an armadillo repellent because they are digging in the garden or rummaging through garbage, and one good way to solve this problem is to install a firm exclusion fence around the garden or yard that will stop the armadillos from getting in. Other armadillo problems can often be solved by using a cage trap to actually catch the animal and then removing it before releasing the animal at least five miles away from your property.

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