Armadillos

Dasypodidae novemcintus

Trapping Armadillos

WARNING: Before starting on any trapping endeavor be sure that you know and understand all the wildlife laws as they pertain to your activity. Ignorance is no excuse. You should also make sure that you are properly protected from diseases. Trapping is a risky activity, especially if you are not familiar with wildlife. Get educated before you do anything. Otherwise, hire a professional.

Take a raccoon size single door cage trap (32"x10"x12") and add wings to the sides to help funnel the armadillo into the trap. Since armadillos can't see well, they simply bump into the boards and are funneled into the trap. The boards used for the wings should be 8 inches wide. Although I have never personally trapped an armadillo, I understand that you had better make sure the cage trap is a strong one as they are known to damage cage traps. The longer the wings the better. Don't buy cheap traps. I would recommend the Springloaded raccoon trap as a minimum standard. With these wings you don't even need to bait the trap. If you decide to bait use meal worms or rotted fruit. see below
         /
        /
Trap
.......\
        \

An even better option is the use of a two door trap in the following configuration:

\........../
.\ ....../
...Trap
../ .....\
/..........\

This way the armadillo can be drawn into the trap from either direction.

7-1-01