Need help , very bad ......

[Kate Gilbert]

We have something digging holes. ( big ones , like a big dog might ) It digs all over the yard and garden. Just here and there. Even has started in the flower beds now. LAst night it dug so deep around a telephone pole, He could dig up out of the ground , at this rate. We live in south Texas. A neighbor said, he had a similar problem last year . It was an armadillo. His dog got it, and he shot another. We have never seen one around. Really, seen nothing that could dig , like this. I first thought a coyote maybe. But have decided that wouldn't be likely. This darn thing has started to visit almost every night. My husband thinks he'll try to sit outside and shoot it. I don't want an armadillo shot. There aren't many anymore as it is. Does anyone have any idea what we are dealing with? Can any of you suggest a way we might trap it? Are maybe ( hopefully ) discourage it ? I have tried sprinkling red pepper and mothballs. I really think it ate the mothballs. They disappeared in a day are two. No rain , in the meanwhile.

[Katra]

It probably IS an armadillo...

You do not have to shoot it, they are very easy to capture by hand. I've done it several times, just be careful!!! You don't want to get scratched as a small population of armadillos carries Leprosy.

Sneak up behind it slowly and carefully, then grab it by the tail and hold it at arms length. Drop it into a cage or sack and relocate it.

You are right. There are not that many around here anymore!

Good luck! :-)

Kat

[Thomas]

[David]

You folks in Texas want some of ours? Here in Florida we seem to have a surfeit.

I've seen lots of armadillo holes and digs, but nothing as big as a large dog would make. Is this a matter of a Texas sized armadillo ;-)

Seriously, we get armadillo tunnels and shallow digs to get to roots, but that's all.

David

[Kate Gilbert]

I kid you not. Whatever this thing is, he does dig a serious hole. There may be more than one animal. Because last night he had a field day, if he is alone. We filled in twenty - eight holes this morning. Some small , others deep and large. He seems to like areas where we have watered trees and plants recently. We have lived here seven years and never even seen one armadillo. That was our neighbors idea. We have no clue what it can be, actually. Thank all who tried to help. Kate

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[Gardñ]

"Thomas" in news: [e-mail]:

sounds good

have you called Art Bell about this? :P

[Katra]

Might help us with the fire ant problem!

Nah. I've seen them tunnel aggressively here. They can do extensive damage to gardens and flower beds.

It can be a common problem, especially if you have fertile soil with a lot of earthworms.

You are fortunate!

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[David Hare-Scott]

Is that Texas USA? Well it probably isn't a wombat then.

David

[Katra]

No, no wombats in Texas! ;-) Is a Wombat a marsupial? The only American marsupila is the opossum.

Slight possibility it might be a badger, but I doubt it.

[Kate Gilbert]

I have called no one except neighbors. Kate

[Kate Gilbert]

Yes, we live in south Texas , USA. Kate

[David Hare-Scott]

Yes it is, it's like a pig with very short legs crossed with a bulldozer. They have them at Texas QLD (Australia)

David

[China]

G'day All, It's easy to recognise if its a wombat. He's the one that eats roots and leaves. Pick him every time.

China Wingham NSW

065

[Katra]

What we need here are one that eat ANTS! ;-)

[China]

Could it be the neighbours then?

China Wingham NSW

p.s. Life's a beach! God help us seashells.

[Kate Gilbert]

You have that one right, feller. kate

[Jim Ferguson]

You might check out the possibility that wild pigs might be doing it. Here in East Texas, they are so bad that they will almost destroy a yard or even pastures. The first time we saw their digging, a couple of hundred of yards from our house, we thought a group of people had been digging with shovels. It's fairly easy to tell, you can see their tracks in moist soil. We have lots of armadillos and they tend to make rather small holes, about the size of your fist.

[Jim Ferguson]

[Kate Gilbert]

they have gone to bother someone a few miles away. The thing is that the holes are very big and deep. Most of them, anyway. Therefore if an armidillo digs a shallow and small hole.Then its not one of those. My husband sat out on the porch the last day we found them, until maybe 1 - AM. Saw nothing . We never have heard a thing. Out of the ordinary. Just coyotes ,owls, and things of the night like that. Never seen a wild pig. I suppose they are around. The last morning we had the mess, we did notice five holes in the farm field. Probably more had we went into the field to look. Kate