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How to Use Vinegar to Get Rid of Armadillos

Armadillos damage flower beds and other areas of the garden in search of food. These small animals are mammals; many people think they are marsupials or rodents, but they are not. If you find small holes in your garden, you probably have armadillos in your garden. In this article, I will explain how to use vinegar to get rid of armadillos in your garden.

According to the University of Florida, armadillos are native to South and Central America. Armadillo is present in the southern regions of Texas and extends to the east, with rare sightings in Missouri and South Carolina. However, its range is limited to the southern areas due to its intolerance to cold weather.

How To Use Vinegar to Get Rid of Armadillos

Before I begin to explain how to use vinegar to get rid of armadillos, I will explain a little about the behavior of the armadillo, and it is essential to understand their habits. Armadillos are nocturnal animals, and that is why they come out in search of food at night, especially in summer.

It is possible that in areas where winters are more severe, armadillos may be observed during the early hours of the day searching for food. Armadillos, with their small but sharp claws, dig holes to search for worms and insects. They do not have a good sense of sight, but they do have an excellent sense of smell that helps them search for food.

It should also be noted that the armadillo is not a territorial animal. That is why you may have more than one armadillo in your garden digging holes. They usually look for their food and do not return for a long time.

How to use vinegar to get rid of armadillos? Since the armadillo has an excellent sense of smell, there are certain strong odors that it does not like at all, so it will use vinegar to get rid of the armadillos in your garden. Spray a little vinegar on the grass or plants where you see the armadillo holes; just a little vinegar will do.

You can also place small bowls of vinegar near armadillo holes to keep armadillos from returning. I recommend not applying vinegar in excess on the plants since an excess of vinegar is not good either. Personally, I prefer to use small bowls or plastic bottles with perforations to allow the vinegar smell to escape.

I consider vinegar an excellent, environmentally friendly, and harmless method of getting rid of armadillos. In addition, vinegar is safe for household pets and completely harmless to the environment.

Does Vinegar Get Rid of Armadillos?

Does Vinegar Get Rid of Armadillos? Of course, vinegar is an excellent method to get rid of armadillos from your garden. Place small bowls or perforated plastic bottles with vinegar for the smell to scare armadillos away from your garden.

I lived for a long time in an area of Arkansas where there were armadillos, and vinegar worked very well for me to get rid of the armadillos. Armadillos are harmless to humans but very harmful to plants.

does vinegar get rid of armadillos
The image shows an armadillo coming out of its burrow.

Other Methods to Get Rid of Armadillos

If vinegar does not work to get rid of armadillos in your garden, there are other methods to get rid of armadillos as well. For example, you can place in bowls or perforated plastic bottles, as mentioned, a little ammonia or pine cleaner. These strong odors tend to scare armadillos away.

Pine needles or pine bark as mulch is another good option to keep armadillos away from the garden. The smell of pine is not pleasant to armadillos, so if you have a pine tree planted, it will also help.

Remove potential food and shelter sources, such as piles of wood or debris, to encourage armadillos to find a new home. If you have any trees with rotten wood in your garden, remove them to prevent armadillos from looking for worms.

Some people use traps for armadillos, but I am not in favor of those methods since they could harm the armadillo when the trap closes. I prefer to use these methods that scare the armadillos away with strong smells.

other methods to get rid of armadillos
Armadillo in the garden.

Final Conclusions

Armadillos are entirely harmless to humans and household pets but can do considerable damage to garden plants. When the armadillos search for food, they dig many holes and pull up some plants that cross their path.

I hope this article will be useful and that you will be able to repel armadillos from your garden easily. I recommend you read our article about how to get rid of gnats in plants.

About Henry Morgan

Henry Morgan is an agronomist horticulture founder of The Garden Style Company and The Garden Style Website. He previously worked for Mondelēz International as an Agronomist Engineer specializing in agricultural products management in highly populated areas. In 2000, Henry started working with farmer-producers in agricultural businesses selling wholesale fresh produce and retail plants in Van Buren, Arkansas. Nowadays, Henry lives in California, where he offers expert consulting services for organic vegetable gardening. As a science writer working with his wife, Julia, Henry shares his passion for gardening and farming, trying to reach and teach as many folks as possible.

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