Night Visitors!

Ezzy, the dog, has been quite in an uproar lately. Every night, she has been barking furiously and wanting to get out the door. This keeps on until I tell her to hush and then she lays listening intently at the door. I have been thinking this was all because of the raccoons that keep raiding the bird feeders. They make so much racket at times that I think there are banshees rattling around the Bayou. Last night, was no different. Ezzy jumped up and barked as if there was some monster on the front steps. I told her to go back to sleep. She flopped on her rug by the door with a huge sigh. (Yes, this dog does sigh when she does not get her way!) Within minutes, she was up barking again..and again, I told her to lay down. Plop...sigh.. The third time was about twenty minutes later...Ezzy began barking at the door and then ran to the sofa where I was sitting. She really wanted out this time..bad! She won..I got up, opened the door and she was off and running.

This morning, I realized that it was not the coons that Ms. Ez was chasing. She was being irritated to no end by none other than armadillos! The telltale signs were all over the rose garden! It looked as if someone had taken a tiller to the mulch bedding. Holes were dug in every inch of the garden and then even in the grass. There had to be a whole posse of these critters! I am almost certain that there is a nest of armadillos under an old boat near the marsh edge. The boat is upside down and a hole has been clawed in the back making the perfect door! These critters must be multiplying by the number of holes they dug last night. I checked around the hill and from the looks of it, they have been busy every night for a while. No wonder my poor dog is going crazy every night!

Armadillos get a bad rap from a lot of people. While it is true that they can damage property with their digging, if they nest far enough from the house, they are sort of nice to have around. (Their digging might cause foundation problems if they nest under your house or shed so that would be something of concern.) The holes they dig in gardens and yards are done so in their search for grub worms, earthworms and insects. This can present problems to those of us that have gardens. They do not intentionally attack the plants but the digging interrupts the root systems and the plants die. Not good..

But! There is a nonviolent method of removing the armadillos from the yard! I have long hated just randomly killing any animal. If it is not to be used as food..leave it be. It has a right to live just as much as we do..so, it comes down to finding a better mousetrap! When you think about an armadillo, it is quite evident that they have large noses! They use their sense of smell to rout out those grub worms and earthworms so it stands to reason the olfactory part of their brain must be super sensitive! Now..just using that as a guide, make the yard smelly and you will evict the armadillos! Placing any strong odored substance about the yard and gardens will do the trick. I made a strong potion from Camphor leaves and doused the gardens. This will not harm any of the plants but will deter the 'dillos! It does not bother me that they dig near the marsh or in the woods..just stay out of my gardens! Actually, any strong scented material could be used. Moth balls, ammonia soaked rags or even pine cleaner could be a deterrent. I just prefer to be "green" so the Camphor leaves came to mind! I merely picked a bundle of leaves, tossed them in a pot with a few marigold blossoms, added about two quarts of water and let it boil for a bit. After straining it, I poured it in a spray bottle and doused the garden areas. Hopefully, the 'dillos will go elsewhere and Ms. Ez will sleep the night away and give me a bit of peace!