If you’re searching for how to get rid of armadillos, you’ve probably already found a dozen lists of castor oil sprays, cayenne pepper, vinegar, and motion-activated sprinklers. Here’s what those lists leave out: wildlife agencies and extension services that study armadillo damage say repellents don’t work on them. Not “work poorly.” Don’t work.
What does work is less glamorous. You trap the armadillo that’s doing the digging, fence off the small areas you care most about, and make your lawn a little less of a buffet. This guide covers each of those, how to confirm it’s an armadillo in the first place, and what the leprosy warnings mean for you as a homeowner.
Quick Answer: The most reliable way to get rid of an armadillo is a live cage trap about 10 to 12 inches wide and 32 inches long, set along its travel path with boards or wire fencing to funnel it into the trap. Bait usually isn’t needed. For flower beds and gardens, a fence buried 12 to 18 inches and slanted outward keeps them out. Repellents, scare devices, and mothballs aren’t effective, according to Oklahoma State University Extension, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management. Check your state’s rules before relocating a trapped armadillo, and wear gloves when handling traps or disturbed soil.
Is It an Armadillo? How to Tell From the Holes
Before you buy a trap, make sure you’re after the right animal. Skunks and squirrels also dig small holes in lawns, and the fix is different.
Oklahoma State University Extension describes armadillo damage as multiple shallow holes, usually up to 6 inches deep, often with a rooting pattern like a pig’s, especially in loose mulch. Skunk and squirrel holes look similar but are usually smaller (under 4 inches across) and shallower (under 3 inches).
Other clues:
- Timing. Damage shows up overnight. OSU notes armadillos are most active in the early morning hours, roughly 2 to 5 a.m., especially in summer.
- Season. Damage is usually worst in summer, and in irrigated lawns in particular.
- Location. Beds, mulched areas, and the edges of lawns next to woods or creeks get hit first.
- Burrows. Armadillos dig larger burrows for resting, usually in wooded areas. OSU says if damage is frequent, there’s likely a burrow within about 100 yards.
If you see raised tunnels instead of open holes, that’s a different digger entirely; our guide on how to get rid of moles in your yard covers those.
Why Armadillos Pick Your Yard
Armadillos eat mostly insects, grubs, and earthworms, which they find by smell and dig out with long claws. The Missouri Department of Conservation lists insects and their larvae, earthworms, spiders, and other invertebrates as their main diet.
Water is the big attractant. According to OSU, irrigation softens the soil and pulls invertebrates closer to the surface, which is why armadillo damage peaks in watered lawns during summer. Cool-season lawns like tall fescue, which need extra water to survive southern summers, are especially attractive.
That points to one of the few cheap, lasting fixes: water less often. Deep, infrequent watering keeps the surface drier between sessions than a daily sprinkle does. How often and how long to water your lawn walks through the schedule. OSU recommends cutting back on irrigation after dealing with an armadillo to reduce the chance of the next one moving in.
Cover matters too. Armadillos like to burrow where there’s brush, so clearing brush piles and dense ground cover near the lawn makes your property less appealing as a home base.
What Doesn’t Work (Save Your Money)
This is where most advice goes wrong, so it’s worth being blunt.
Repellents. OSU Extension says repellents are not considered effective for keeping armadillos out of landscaping. The Missouri Department of Conservation says none are known to be effective. The Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management notes that no repellents are registered for armadillos at all. That covers castor oil granules, cayenne, garlic, predator urine, and vinegar.
Mothballs. Missouri specifically warns against them: they contain toxic naphthalene, and the vapor is harmful to people.
Scare devices. OSU says scare tactics don’t provide long-term relief because armadillos come right back after being run off. ICWDM lists no frightening devices as effective. Lights, noisemakers, and motion sprinklers might startle one for a night.
Gassing burrows. Missouri notes gas cartridges don’t work because armadillos are usually outside their burrows, foraging, when the damage happens.
How to Trap an Armadillo
Trapping is the method extension specialists recommend most, and OSU calls it highly effective when set up right. The trick isn’t bait. It’s the funnel.
Pick the Right Trap
Use a cage trap roughly 10 to 12 inches wide and tall and about 32 inches long. OSU notes that smaller traps sized for skunks are too small. Double-door traps (about 48 inches long) double your odds because the armadillo can walk in from either direction, though a single door is fine if you know which way it travels. ICWDM advises using only professionally manufactured traps, since armadillos can wreck flimsy ones.
Build a Funnel
Armadillos have poor eyesight and tend to follow walls, fences, and other barriers as they forage. Use that. Both Missouri and OSU recommend setting the trap against an existing barrier (a house wall, privacy fence, or dense hedge) and adding “wings” that steer the animal into the opening:
- Boards: Missouri suggests 1-by-4 or 1-by-6 boards at least 6 feet long, angled out from the trap door like a V.
- Wire: OSU suggests poultry wire held up with rebar or other rigid stakes. It doesn’t need to be tall, since armadillos rarely climb.
- No gaps: OSU stresses securing the wire flush with the trap door. Any gap and the armadillo is likely to push through it instead of going in.
Place It Where the Armadillo Travels
Put the trap near the worst fresh damage, where the armadillo seems to be entering the yard, or along a path to its burrow. OSU adds two tricks: water the area around the trap, since armadillos are drawn to freshly irrigated soil, and line the bottom of the trap with freshly dug dirt so it feels like ground.
Bait Is Optional
OSU says no bait is generally used, though some homeowners report success with eggs or rotten fruit. Missouri suggests a nylon stocking filled with overripe fruit, earthworms, or mealworms hung inside the trap. Try the funnel first; add bait if a few nights go by with nothing.
Check It Every Morning
Armadillos are mostly caught overnight. Wear gloves when handling the trap (more on why below).
What to Do After You Catch One
This is the step people don’t plan for, and it’s where state law comes in.
Relocation isn’t the simple answer it sounds like. In Oklahoma, for example, OSU notes it’s illegal to release a trapped armadillo somewhere else without permission from the landowner at the release site, and that moving wildlife spreads disease, displaces other animals, and stresses the one being moved. Rules differ from state to state, so check with your state wildlife agency before you drive anywhere with an armadillo in the back.
Missouri’s Wildlife Code allows damage-causing armadillos to be trapped or shot to prevent further damage, subject to its restrictions, and Oklahoma doesn’t protect them. Where local ordinances allow, some landowners dispatch them. Many homeowners would rather not, and that’s a reasonable choice: OSU recommends calling a licensed nuisance wildlife control operator to remove the animal, for a fee. Search your state wildlife agency’s website for a list of licensed operators near you.
Expect a repeat visitor eventually. OSU notes armadillos have a home range of about 25 acres, and another one can move into the territory once the first is gone.
Fencing: Best for Beds and Gardens
Fencing works, but only for areas small enough to enclose. OSU says exclusion is effective for small garden beds and not practical for whole lawns.
Build it to beat both digging and climbing. ICWDM recommends:
- Bury the bottom 12 to 18 inches below ground, deeper in sandy soil.
- Extend the fence at least 3 feet high.
- Slant the above-ground part outward at about 40 degrees so the armadillo can’t climb over.
For a low bed border, OSU notes that even a fence more than 12 inches tall should stop most armadillo use, as long as the bottom fits tight to the ground so they can’t root under it. Missouri suggests comparing the cost of fencing against the value of what you’re protecting before you invest.
Should You Treat the Lawn for Grubs?
Most online advice says to kill the grubs and the armadillos will leave. Extension specialists are more cautious.
ICWDM notes soil insecticides may reduce damage in turfgrass. But OSU points out three problems. If an armadillo is already used to feeding in your lawn, it may keep digging for some time even after the food supply drops. Damage can even increase for a while as it searches harder for what’s left. And soil insecticides kill beneficial insects along with the pests. OSU’s advice is to target the armadillo, not the insect community, unless you also have damage from a specific insect pest.
If you do have a grub problem on its own, that’s worth treating in its own right. Start by confirming it with our guide to identifying and repairing grub damage before reaching for an insecticide.
Do Armadillos Carry Leprosy?
Some do, and it’s the reason every step above says to wear gloves.
The CDC states that in the southern United States, some armadillos are naturally infected with the bacteria that cause leprosy (Hansen’s disease), and it may be possible for them to spread it to people. It adds that the risk is very low and most people who come into contact with armadillos are unlikely to get it. The CDC also notes the disease is hard to catch, and it’s curable with antibiotics.
OSU’s practical advice for homeowners: wear gloves when repairing armadillo holes, handling a trap, or handling an armadillo, and avoid touching the animal or disturbed soil with bare skin. Gloves also protect you from their claws.
Repairing Armadillo Damage
Filling the holes is worth doing whether or not you’ve caught the armadillo, because a lumpy lawn is hard to mow and invites weeds.
Tamp the soil back into each hole, add a little topsoil where needed, and water it in. OSU notes that warm-season grasses that spread by runners, like bermudagrass, usually fill bare patches on their own. Cool-season grasses like tall fescue don’t spread the same way, so patches need to be reseeded, ideally in fall.
If the damage covers a good chunk of the lawn, LawnGuru connects you with local seeding pros who can reseed the torn-up areas once the armadillo is gone, with booking handled online.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do armadillos hate the most?
There’s no smell or taste that reliably drives them off. Extension and wildlife agencies say repellents aren’t effective against armadillos. What they respond to is physical: a well-built fence keeps them out of a bed, and drier, less irrigated soil makes a lawn less worth digging.
What scent keeps armadillos away?
None that’s been shown to work. Castor oil, cayenne, garlic, predator urine, and vinegar are widely sold or recommended, but the Missouri Department of Conservation says no repellents are known to be effective, and none are registered for armadillos.
What time of night do armadillos come out?
Mostly late at night. Oklahoma State University Extension says they’re most active from about 2 to 5 a.m., especially during hot summer months. In cold weather they become less active and are more likely to feed during warm parts of the day.
Are armadillos hard to get rid of?
The individual armadillo usually isn’t. A cage trap with funnel wings catches them fairly easily. Keeping them gone is harder, because new ones can move into an attractive, well-watered yard. Reducing irrigation and fencing key beds help prevent repeat problems.
How do you use vinegar to get rid of armadillos?
Vinegar isn’t an effective armadillo repellent, and spraying it on a lawn can burn the grass. Trapping and fencing are the methods wildlife agencies recommend.
Should I fill in armadillo holes?
Yes. Tamp the soil back in, top up with topsoil, and water. Wear gloves while you do it. Warm-season lawns like bermudagrass tend to fill in quickly, while cool-season lawns may need reseeding.
