A Sidebar on the Armadillo Trap

Facebook friend Caleb Oldham did a great job of building his armadillo trap from the photos and measurements I posted here a year ago. But something went awry!

Caleb Oldham’s armadillo trap after it did battle with a wild beast.

Something attacked his trap a few days ago. He posted the photo above of the poor thing along with these comments:

“I built your armadillo trap and it has been working great and allowed me to deal with a few raccoons and possums, too. The other day I got more than I bargained for. Based on the hair, damage, teeth marks, and apparent will of the critter to take revenge on the trap, I think I had a run in with a small bobcat. I didn’t have any bait – just the smell of the other varmints that this trap has helped me with in the past.”

Caleb’s trap after his “touch-ups.”

He then posted a follow-up photo, along with this note:
“Back in the saddle again!”

If you want to build your own trap…
As promised, here is the story we ran here in e-gardens a year ago. We have several of these traps, and we’ve captured probably 80 armadillos in our yard in the 35 years that we’ve been using the traps. We release the pests in Corps of Engineers land along a local lake where they won’t bother anyone or plow up crops. (As much as I dislike them, I’m just not a killer.)

We start by locating their home burrow and the route they take to get to it. We erect a long “funnel” out of chicken wire to direct the animals right into the traps. I don’t use a bait of any kind, but bacon usually helps unless you have dogs and cats that might be tempted to stop by.

The details…