Armadillo Hunting?

[steve urquell]

They are destructive to property as well as ground nesting birds. They rip open nests to get the eggs of quail and turkey. Probably going to be the demise of both species as their range grows.

[barnetmill]

They are destructive to property as well as ground nesting birds. They rip open nests to get the eggs of quail and turkey. Probably going to be the demise of both species as their range grows.

I wonder if that is what happened to the local quail. Here I was blaming foxes and coyotes habitat loss.

[Winger Ed.]

Armadillos had a little help moving East out of Texas and crossing the Mississippi River.

My Mom's family home was a ranch in the Texas Hill Country near Fredericksburg.
During WWII, my Mom was about 12. Her older sister was married to a local guy who served in the Pacific in the Navy.
Towards the end of WWII, her sister & BIL were stationed at the Navy part of what's now Eglin AFB in Western Florida.
After a couple years in the war zone, I think they brought him back to the US to be an instructor.

Big surprise! Their base Commander was also from the Hill Country.
At the time, 1944/45, getting leave was almost impossible. But they did.
BIL got 10-12 days leave to come back home,,,,,,, and bring back an armadillo.

Mom talked of chasing them around for days trying to catch some. (They had plenty on their ranch)
Her & her brothers ended up with three of them, and built a cage to carry them back to Florida.

It sounded like a Tazmanian devil was in the car trunk. Stopping in Louisiana for gas, BIL opened the trunk
to check on them..... The pregnant one was on top of the cage, and jumped out!

Back in Florida, the base Commander was happy to have a little piece of Texas there on the base.
He just let them go in his yard. It didn't take long before the mated pair escaped out into the wilderness of Florida.


My Dad's brother lived in Monroe, LA.
It's pretty much along the road you'd take going from the Hill Country to Florida.

He encountered one in the late 50s for the first time, and it was in his yard.
His sense of amazement quickly changed...
He was a Deacon in the Church, but didn't have one kind word to say about them...
We never told him how it probably got there.

[barnetmill]

Armadillos had a little help moving East out of Texas and crossing the Mississippi River.

My Mom's family home was a ranch in the Texas Hill Country near Fredericksburg.
During WWII, my Mom was about 12. Her older sister was married to a local guy who served in the Pacific in the Navy.
Towards the end of WWII, her sister & BIL were stationed at the Navy part of what's now Eglin AFB in Western Florida.
After a couple years in the war zone, I think they brought him back to the US to be an instructor.

Big surprise! Their base Commander was also from the Hill Country.
At the time, 1944/45, getting leave was almost impossible. But they did.
BIL got 10-12 days leave to come back home,,,,,,, and bring back an armadillo.

Mom talked of chasing them around for days trying to catch some. (They had plenty on their ranch)
Her & her brothers ended up with three of them, and built a cage to carry them back to Florida.

It sounded like a Tazmanian devil was in the car trunk. Stopping in Louisiana for gas, BIL opened the trunk
to check on them..... The pregnant one was on top of the cage, and jumped out!

Back in Florida, the base Commander was happy to have a little piece of Texas there on the base.
He just let them go in his yard. It didn't take long before the mated pair escaped out into the wilderness of Florida.


My Dad's brother lived in Monroe, LA.
It's pretty much along the road you'd take going from the Hill Country to Florida.

He encountered one in the late 50s for the first time, and it was in his yard.
His sense of amazement quickly changed...
He was a Deacon in the Church, but didn't have one kind word to say about them...
We never told him how it probably got there.

Crossing the Mississippi they could not do by walking on the bottom of the river. But in semi truck as part of the load going over bridge might be possible. Or they might have gotten washed over on mat or raft of logs. Eglin is not to far from me.

[Winger Ed.]

If you see 'em around there, they might be decendents from the ones my Mom helped catch in 1944.

[barnetmill]

If you see 'em around there, they might be decendents from the ones my Mom helped catch in 1944.

Eglin is huge and some parts of the base are just over in the next county. As the crow flies it is about twenty mile to reach the western base boundary. But it takes a while to get their
Line drawn from my neighborhood to western part of Eglin Air Force Base.

[Winger Ed.]

I don't know how far adolesent ones go to find their own territory after they leave their mama.
However--- In almost 80 years, I think they could have expanded out 20 miles without too much trouble.

When I see them, they are always plodding along just following their nose.
In almost 80 years, I can see them actually expanding out a few hundred miles.

[barnetmill]

I don't know how far adolesent ones go to find their own territory after they leave their mama.
However--- In almost 80 years, I think they could have expanded out 20 miles without too much trouble.

When I see them, they are always plodding along just following their nose.
In almost 80 years, I can see them actually expanding out a few hundred miles.

I think that they can spread a bit faster than you imagine if they have the population numbers.

[Frank V]

Hopefully too cold for them here in Montana?

[alfadan]

Just got a double! Walking out back at dusk and hear leaves rustling. I stop and around the trees come one being chased by the other. I think one was trying to be romantic. I got the chase-ee in the scope and put 3 in it and and had a jam in the 1022. Cleared it and the other was running straight at me and put one in his head, all within 10 yards! Fastest I've ever seen them move!

[steve urquell]

Just got a double! Walking out back at dusk and hear leaves rustling. I stop and around the trees come one being chased by the other. I think one was trying to be romantic. I got the chase-ee in the scope and put 3 in it and and had a jam in the 1022. Cleared it and the other was running straight at me and put one in his head, all within 10 yards! Fastest I've ever seen them move!

Good job! The one I shot in the pic above was with another one and it got away before i cleared my jam. I have seen them run surprisingly fast before. I had one that was very wary and took off running like a deer before I got closer than 40yds to it.

[Recycled bullet]

155 grain MP359 Hammer hollow points over 16.5 grain H110 in 357 Magnum.

Is this armadillo medicine?

Sent from my moto g power (2022) using Tapatalk

[steve urquell]

155 grain MP359 Hammer hollow points over 16.5 grain H110 in 357 Magnum.

Is this armadillo medicine?

Sent from my moto g power (2022) using Tapatalk

Only one way to find out. Grab the flashlight. Make sure to post pics of the exploded carcasses.

[Tracy]

I remember 30 years ago when I first started seeing an occasional one west and south of the Tennessee River. A few years later I saw one on this side. Now they are as common as 'possums.
I've heard they followed the fire ants.
In my experience, .22LR is a great way to kill them.

[barnetmill]

I remember 30 years ago when I first started seeing an occasional one west and south of the Tennessee River. A few years later I saw one on this side. Now they are as common as 'possums.
I've heard they followed the fire ants.
In my experience, .22LR is a great way to kill them.

In NW Florida we have both fire ants and armadillos and nothing on four legs or that flies seems to mess with fireants. Armadillos will go after ground dwelling yellow jacket nests.
I thinks it is a question of them adapting to the winters via natural selection.

[dogrunner]

I can attest that the things were present in large numbers here in E/central Fla. in the late 50's. Had a walker foxhound mix back then that delighted in making them look like roadkill..........would not eat 'em, just rip to pieces!

[Char-Gar]

Armadillos are an iconic Texas critter and I have no reason to kill them. They do dig some little holes in my yard in their nightly search for some bugs to eat, but just step on the hole and it will be gone and the grass looking good in 24 to 48 hours. The Armadillos need those bugs far more than I do and I am willing to share with them.

[txbirdman]

Use to hunt them all the time when I was a kid (60+ years ago). Learned a lot about snap shooting and leading the target with my .22 in those days. Still live in the country and see them on occasion but I have a “live and let live “ agreement with them these days. In fact, I don’t have the passion for killing things that I use to. Still like target shooting though.

[barnetmill]

Use to hunt them all the time when I was a kid (60+ years ago). Learned a lot about snap shooting and leading the target with my .22 in those days. Still live in the country and see them on occasion but I have a “live and let live “ agreement with them these days. In fact, I don’t have the passion for killing things that I use to. Still like target shooting though.

Those have become my sentiments non-harmful critters. I sort of wish my dogs would leave them alone.

[Winger Ed.]

In open country, they usually dig their burrows at the base of a tree.
However; you can see a lot of them sort of out in the open too.
Ranchers have no love for them since a cow or some other live stock can step in the hole and break a leg.