I Found the Creature Who's Digging Up Our Yard!

We've lived in our rental house going on 3 months and FINALLY I caught the perpetrator, nine-band-handed! (Spoiler alert: He had much cuter little ears than I expected!)

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Every morning, I go outside to water the herbs and spray the area with my favorite homemade, all-natural pest control. And every morning while outside, I notice new patches of earth overturned in addition to actual holes. Plus, there are sandy mounds. Mounds and patches and holes, oh my!

Ah ha! It's exactly who I hoped it would be!

The First Suspect: Fire Ants

When we first moved in, I attributed the sections of bare earth to the work of fire ants - after all, there were mounds of dirt present, and there were definitely fire ants in the yard. A colony of fire ants took up residence in our magnolia tree, and I've also been stung by a fire ant while in the nearby neighborhood gazebo. Fire ants are aggressive and will swarm much larger creatures. I was just sitting on the bench when they targeted me. I'm just glad it wasn't my little girl who got stung; better me than her!

In case you missed my post on all-natural pest spray for common household creepy-crawlies, check it out here:

https://www.myfavoritefarmhouse.com/single-post/natural-pest-spray

So, I laid baits for them, smushed a dozen (as a show of force, obviously), and lived to fight another day. #countrylife (See the VERY FLATTERING picture my husband took of me, below.) Yet while the presence of fire ants explains the sandy mounds, it doesn't explain the patchy grass or deep holes that are dug nightly.

It turns out fire ants aren't the only thing out there!

The lovely photo my husband took of me avenging myself after a fire ant had the cajones to attack me.

I love these telescoping fly swatters from Amazon! Hey, they may not conquer a colony of fire ants, but they will work for the occasional pest that scares the pants off you in your own home! It's great because it reaches much further than your run-of-the-mill fly swatter. One downside, they don't have a loop to hang on the wall. Despite that, they get plenty of use at my house. I even keep one in outside under my patio chairs.

One of the patchy areas in the backyard.

Second Suspect: Raccoons

Humble brag, I originally suspected an armadillo lived here due to a large hole buried at the base of the huge locust tree in the backyard, but my husband convinced me that raccoons were more likely the culprit. He's partly right; we have seen raccoons in the area, and they do notoriously destroy lawns. In fact, the patch in the photo above most likely is the work of raccoons. They turn over pieces of sod looking for tasty grubs.

But I still suspected that yet another creature was afoot. Sometimes the signs were consistent with a raccoon hunting, but other times I would find large holes that are inconsistent with our bandit friends.

Okay, so there are fire ants a-mounding, and raccoons a-patching, but what's a-digging???

One of the holes I find every morning. Some are much deeper than this one, and often multiple holes appear nightly.

And in the middle last week, I finally saw it.

BEHOLD THE ARMADILLO, operating with cuteness and impunity, brazenly exploring the lawn with utter unabashed enthusiasm for life. He didn't even mind that I was following and filming him. As if he couldn't get any cuter, he did this little snorting thing that sounded like a tiny pig rooting for vegetables.

And I wasn't just hearing things; a quick "interwebs" search confirmed that nine-banded armadillos do indeed "grunt" as they forage for food:

https://armadillo-online.org/faq.html

While armadillos commonly live in Florida, it was still a special and rare sighting for me. Sadly, most of the armadillos I see are the dead ones by the side of the highway. What a beautiful treat to get to see one happily scampering about within steps of me! Side note: I know nothing about armadillo anatomy, but I find myself referring to the little guy as a "he" and am considering naming him Harry. Because, irony.

Well, this definitely explains the impressive hole at the base of the tree in the backyard and the constant digs all around the landscaping! It's weirdly exciting to me that the culprit isn't our garden variety raccoon, but instead it's a South American native, it's the state mammal of Texas, it's our very own nine-banded buddy, it's the amazing armadillo.

And now the obligatory warning: Armadillos are one of the only animals that can carry leprosy. From what I've read, it's unlikely, but to be safe, I would never touch an armadillo with my bare hands especially - or really at all, there is simply no need. I enjoy watching my little hairless friend without physically disturbing him.

Beyond the cuteness factor, the news about this armadillo living in the yard just gets better and better - it turns out, armadillos eat fire ants! WOO-HOO!!! A big thanks to my little friend for that. In a perfect plot circle, the very first pest I saw in the yard is what feeds the creature who lives in the hole in the yard. What can I say, everything makes sense now - well, everything in the backyard, anyway!

So... if you have fire ants, I guess, get an armadillo? Haha. For those of you who don't happen to have an armadillo living in your back yard (which I'm guessing is most normal people), let me suggest another option. You guys know I'm all about my homemade natural pest repellent, but remember, my homemade spray doesn't kill on contact; it just repels with scent. If you need to actually kill/exterminate something (such as aggressive fire ants in your kids' play area) try this eco-friendly version I use:

The manufacturer says this bio-insecticide is toxin free and safe around children and pets.

I truly hope each of you get to have an equally magical and safe encounter with nature's wonders this week. If you do, please leave a comment and tell me about your experience. I can't think of many things I love more than animal stories!

With Love,

Molly

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***September 2021 Update: Sad news! Our little nine-banded friend is no more. After not seeing any new holes dig in awhile, sure enough I saw his little body down by the curb entering our rental neighborhood. He was hit by a car. Rest in peace, little dude. :(