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Armadillo in my Garden!

October 28, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner 11 Comments

Amadillo in the garden!

Each morning, I had to replant a few pansies here and there. At first, I blamed the squirrels, but as the problem grew worse, I began to suspect a different critter. Sunday morning I awoke to a freshly tilled flower bed and a tunnel under my porch. There’s an armadillo in my garden(!), and the nasty thing dug up most every flower. If you look closely at the picture above, you can see all the plants tossed around and NOT in the ground. So stinkin’ rude this digging, rooting, garden-wrecking creature.

I know he’s gotta eat, and his food of choice is grubs. So apparently I have grubs. Or maybe I only have one grub and he’s bound and determined to find it. Or maybe he’s digging to China where there’s a sale on grubs?

Only one way to take care of a problem like this.

Nip it.

Never once in all my years of living in Texas did I see an armadillo in my yard. Look at this poor little beheaded pansy! I declared war on this armor-plated varmint.

beheaded pansy

According to my Facebook followers, advice ranged from don’t handle it (it carries leprosy) to grab it by the tail (a joke?). The overwhelming advice was to blast it to Kingdom Come with a shotgun. Well, I don’t have a gun (unless you’re planning to rob me in the night and then, yes, beware, I have a deer rifle under my bed). No, really.

After consulting other gardeners in the know and reading everything I could, I developed a two-stage, five pronged plan of attack.

Stage I

1. I sprinkled cayenne pepper all through my pansies. At the very least, the squirrels might stay away for a day or two and they do wreak their on kind of havoc everywhere.

2. I mixed up a batch of Mosquito Barrier and applied a heavy coat all throughout my front beds and around the porch. Mosquito Barrier is basically garlic juice. It’s a great natural solution for mosquitoes, and since armadillos have sensitive noses, I hoped it would drive away my rude houseguest.

Armadillo in the garden

3. I sprinkled a border of Repels-All (biodegradable) around my flowerbed, porch, everywhere. This, too, smells like garlic.

4. I left the porch light on all night. It’s glaringly bright and since Mr. Armadillo is nocturnal, I hoped it would confuse him.

Monday morning, I found no new evidence of him. My pansies looked bone tired from four days of armadillo abuse, but they survived an entire night without being uprooted again. Bless them.

Stage II. Now to treat the underlying problem. (There’s a not so funny pun here.)

5. I bought the strongest (only) grub bait I could find at Westwood Gardens. While I normally try to go the natural, organic, tree-hugger route with my garden, I’m not pussyfooting around with this problem. I’m going with Barney Fife’s advice on handling troublemakers… NIP IT!

Recap.

My front yard smells all garlicky like a Caesar salad. It’s been three days and so far (knock on wood), I’ve seen no sign of Mr. Armadillo.  I haven’t had any trouble with mosquitoes or vampires either.

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]#Armadillo in your garden? Go the #BarneyFife route and nip it in the bud! My 5 pronged attack #gardensolutions [/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:
AC/DC, Hell’s Bells

 

Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: armadillo, gardening tips, repelling animals in the garden

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Comments

  1. Christopher Mitchell (Another Government Employee) says

    October 28, 2015 at 7:28 am

    If nothing else, you can always take Carl’s method and use dynamite.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      October 28, 2015 at 5:53 pm

      Good idea, Christopher.

      Reply
  2. Debbie says

    October 28, 2015 at 7:28 am

    Well, you know where I stand with armadillos. Why God? Why? You go girl!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      October 28, 2015 at 5:53 pm

      I guess because they eat grubs?

      Reply
  3. Barbara Tate says

    October 28, 2015 at 8:10 am

    Hell’s Bells, I believe you have Nipped it in the Bud, for now anyway. Hope your armadillo has left the premises. Funny read.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      October 28, 2015 at 5:54 pm

      I hope so, too. Crossing fingers and toes.

      Reply
  4. Colene says

    October 28, 2015 at 9:52 am

    Congratulations, so far! You have certainly earned the award for determination. I wonder if your method could rid us of those pesky moles.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      October 28, 2015 at 5:54 pm

      I hope I don’t have moles next!

      Reply
  5. Gary Henderson says

    October 28, 2015 at 10:01 am

    Between the armadillos, deer, squirrels, rabbits, and moles, I don’t know how you manage to even have a garden. 🙂

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      October 28, 2015 at 5:55 pm

      I use the term “garden” loosely. Creative writing, you know.

      Reply
  6. Dorothy Johnson says

    October 29, 2015 at 8:44 am

    Armadillos visit us from time to time. Besides digging up flowers, they poke holes in the lawn, too. Hate them. Glad you ran it off.

    Reply

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Talya Tate Boerner


Hi! I'm Talya. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (Now Available!)

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