Calls about nuisance wildlife are constant, no matter the time of the year, especially with armadillos, I have already caught one red-handed in my own yard. They tend to tear up our yards and leave holes, raccoons like to dig in our trash, moles and voles leave tunnels, and opossums will steal our cat food (if they can get to it). But how do we fix this? Where do we start?
The first thing we need to do is think about why the animals are there in the first place. Do they have food? Water? Shelter? If these animals are becoming nuisances to you, then the answer is likely yes to at least one of those three things. Armadillos love to eat bugs, especially white grubs, that live in the soil in your yard. If your yard has these white grubs, you are more likely to attract the armadillos. It gives them a food source. Raccoons will eat a wide variety of things… this compounded with their curiosity leads to them rummaging through your trash to see what they can find to snack on. Even if your trash can has a lid, if it can be easily removed, the raccoons will remove it and help themselves anyway. Opossums love dog and cat food, and they will have no problem coming onto your porch or into your garage to have a bite or two if they have access to it.
Try and treat the root of the problem. If you have an armadillo problem and you remove one armadillo, you are treating the symptom and not the true problem, and one will likely come and take its place. The true problem is usually not the animal. Relocating or hunting the animal is an option (none of the three species that I mentioned above are protected in Georgia, so they may be hunted year-round) but may not offer the long-term results you are looking for.
For armadillo problems, consider treating the yard for grubs and cutting back on how much you may be watering. Watering will bring insects and grubs closer to the surface, making the armadillos dig for them. Making it hard to access your trash may keep the raccoons at bay. Do not leave trash bags sitting outside unprotected; use a can/bin with a lid. You can weigh down the lid with a rock or even use a bungee cord to secure the lid into place. Leaving cat or dog food outside, whether it be bowls or in bags, may attract opossums to your area. Make sure that if you need to store pet food outside you are keeping it in a sealed container. If you remove the food source, chances are the animals will move on somewhere else.
Fences/barriers are also an option in some cases, as well as bright lights, motion activated sprinklers, or even scarecrows. Some animals also have repellents that can be used to keep them away.
If you have any questions on removal strategies, repellents, or animal signs in general, please feel free to contact me at mckenzie.wheeler@uga.edu or at 706-629-8685.
