Armadillo - CAUGHT!

Oh, how I wish I had pictures of this! For a while now, we have had problems with armadillos (life in TX of course). They keep tunneling under the back fence and love to forage around in the red mulch that surrounds our swing set and trampoline. At first this wasn't that big a deal, but sometimes they dig REALLY BIG holes that I am sure a toddler will fall into and then I found out they carry leprosy - yikes! So for a while I have been on a crusade to rid our yard of these no longer cute creatures. We borrowed a trap and caught one in November and then the other week when I was out playing with Brett, I discovered that there was once again an armadillo caught in the trap. Hurray! I had no idea how long it had been in there and it looked pretty dead to me so I called up Mike to let him know he would have the pleasant task of disposing it once he got home.

When he does come home, he grabs a trash bag, puts on gloves and joins the kids in the backyard. I go out to see how things are coming and as he tries to dump the armadillo out of the cage into the bag - we all quickly realize that it is NOT DEAD! See, armadillos just play dead in an effort to survive. Mike is totally perplexed as to what to do - I am yelling to just shove it back in the cage but the last thing he wants to do is touch the thing. We put all the kids up on the trampoline for safety while the armadillos is half smashed under the cage (our efforts to not let it get away). I am holding the trap and pleading with Mike to push it in - he contemplates just letting it go - NO WAY! So finally, he grabs it by it's tail (yes, they have long ones just like opossums) and throws it in the trap. Of course Max and Kenna want to ride in the car with him to set it loose somewhere far from our house - they dropped it in some wooded area away from any subdivisions. The excitement and drama that surround an animal catching just can't be beat. So one more armadillo down and no signs of further problems - now on to other things. :)