While perusing the wildlife codes of Florida I ran across a what seems to me to be a conundrum. Laws spefically state no wanton waste of wildlife but also mentions armadillos as legit small game. So, what the hell does one do with those disease infested critters?
Also learned they are invasive which adds even more ethical questions on "harvesting" them.

It would be mo better if you'd ask why the armadillo crosses the road!

Unless they are tearing up your garden, leave them alone.  They will eat all the insect pests in your yard. They really only come out at night, so I don't have to worry about anyone touching one, but between an armadillo and a small family of opossums living under my shed, my yard pests are gone now.  I couldn't be happier.  At first I wanted them gone, but after seeing how they clean your yard of insects and even keep mice at bay, I have grown to accept them on  my property. They don't do any noticable damage at my house, but if you have a garden they may start diggin in it.  

To each their own, though.

Never let the blood or anything from an Armadillo touch you it's crazy and rare but you can get Leprosy from them.

Integral Suppressed 10/22. Disperse of them RIGHT now!
The damage they can do burrowing is mind bottling!

They make decent helmets.


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Well, they are not terrible eating. Chicken on the half shell.

My buddy and I ate a few when we ran out of food on some backwoods hunts back when we were young and hunting was more important than anything else.


We didn’t die.

Portable "Speed Bumps!"

I like the helmet idea. How big does it have to be to be consider trophy size? I have a really big head.

My Buddy refers to them as “ MBG’s”

Mobile
Ballistic
Gelatin

Not eating. They carry leprosy.

Also note that .22 caliber may not be effective against the shell.

... and their favorite burrowing locations are ... anywhere there's a foundation or a pillar making ground contact. They will start a hole right at the face and go down until they've undermined it.

I like Armadillo pancakes.

I killed over 300 when I finally quit counting, that was over a 25 year span. I had a spot in my pasture mulched with the carcasses of dillos.  I can tell you A LOT! about armadillos & their behavior.

They are very near-sighted. You can use boards, obstructions and buildings to funnel them to a strong trap.

Smarter ones will hide and wait motionless until the threat is past if they aren't near an escape burrow. So when stalking one that has run into the cover of brush, stand still and quietly wait, they will move in a few minutes.

They will use a burrow made by another dillo. They can smell a previous dug burrow two years after it had been dug. You can fill it with rocks, debris, flood it with water & mud and they will still dig it up. If you want to stop a dillo from using a burrow, stuff a dead dillo in it and they will abandon it and never return.

Never leave a dead dillo that you've shot in the wee hours of the morning in your yard unless want that area of your yard destroyed. Other dillos will come and hold a 'wake' and try to roust the dead by digging a moat around it.

While dillos can contract & transmit leprosy, the instance is statistically insignificant. They apparently make good chili and are closer to pork than anything else and were referred to as Hoover Hogs during the depression. I've called then Panzer Possums.

They give birth to 4 young all of the same sex.

They can walk under water and climb chainlink fences.

They are the favorite fare of vultures. That's my preferred use of them, belly up in the paster and the buzzards will clean them up in 2-3 days then I mulch them up with the mower. Buzzards gotta eat same as the worms.

They make really cool purses from them in Mexico.

Best defense is a good dog. In lieu of that, motion lights & 00 buckshot. Yes, a suppressed .22 works as well but they bounce around like blood spraying basketballs. Buckshot is an instant stop as are larger calibers.

Does the fact that this type of hunting actually sounds incredibly fun... Make me a psychopath?

This could be great kid hunting with my helian children. Small prey and instant gratification with a .17 HMR or .223 I think

We have a bad problem with them in our back yard this time of year. I am not really sure how to go about it. I have put up game cameras and can't seem to see what time they are coming out.

I'm worried my dogs are going to step in the holes and break their legs. Wife killed one last year with my RWS pellet rifle. He came out in broad daylight...idiot. It was his funeral.

I have thought about camping out one night in the back yard and making a perimeter out of string and bells. That way when he comes rolling through it wakes me up and I can chootem. We also have a trash panda problem. I think we might be able to trap him though.

I see them in my garden, so far they have not done any damage.

I am glad I read all that!!

....and yes, 'Dillos in my AO get smoked with a sweet 10/22 sporting the Vidar barrel I bought from you, long ago!!

@cs223

Don’t eat Chinese food in Brevard county.

I have a couple friends that eat them. They grew up poor and it was a free meal and
that was a good thing. They still eat them these days, They have money now but I guess
that free meal thing is still strong in their minds.

Feed them to alligators and vultures. Both of them readily eat dead Armadillos. Don’t touch one without gloves that you dispose of.

I have caught plenty and cleaned them as well. I never ate one, but never caught anything from them

I did pass up a shot at one yesterday, next time I won't be so merciful. Those armadillo hats get better looking each day.

shoot

shovel

don't post about it online

In World War II, the German POWs held in Texas called them "Panzerschwein".