An Armadillo can cause tremendous damage to cultivated areas such as your manicured lawn. This damage is due to this mammal's diet of grubs, insects and other small invertebrates. While hunting for food, an Armadillo can wreak havoc on turf, digging small to medium holes in numerous locations. While there are many people who are fascinated with the Armadillo and its habits, those who spend many long hours cultivating a nice lawn do not appreciate their grassy front yard resembling a mine field!
These armored mammals can also cause great damage to ornamental and fruit trees. The burrows (which can run up to 25' long) often disturb and damage the root systems of trees and shrubs. This burrowing activity also damages concrete slabs, creating air pockets beneath the concrete that weakens (and many times cracks) the foundation of homes and other buildings.
Most people will first try eliminating the insects or grubs in their lawn as their first step in ridding themselves of destructive Armadillos. In certain areas of the southeast, the presence of Armadillos coincides with molecricket infestations in lawns and grassy areas. If Armadillos are digging in your lawn because you have molecricket problems, investigate molecricket elimination.
If your Armadillo pest is feeding primarily on grubs or worms you should use controls to help eliminate the grubs.
Eliminating the food source of the Armadillo may take several applications, so be patient and persistent. After its food source disappears, the animal's burrowing may actually increase for a day or so until it realizes it must move on to other areas. Remember that the Armadillo is not the smartest animal in the world; it may take a few days for it to decide it needs another foraging ground.
In severe cases, a stubborn Armadillo might need a little help in leaving your lawn. If this is your situation, follow up your pesticide application with a good repellent or combination of repellents. The best results have been achieved by making two applications of Permethrin (about 10 days between applications) and applying your repellent 5 days following your second Permethrin Pro treatment.
The use of repellents is an attractive alternative animal control method for many people, for various reasons:
Repellents are safer for your children and pets.
They can be used in a wide range of locations such as gardens, flower beds, playgrounds— areas where we would be hesitant to use contact insecticides.
In stubborn mole, vole and armadillo infestations, using a combination of insecticide and repellent is often necessary.
