You walk outside in the morning and the lawn looks like someone went over it with a small shovel. Shallow holes everywhere, sod flipped back, mulch thrown onto the sidewalk. That is almost always a nine-banded armadillo. Primitive Wildlife Solutions provides armadillo removal in St. Cloud, FL for homes, community common areas and commercial properties.
Licensed & insured. Free inspection. Humane removal and sealing.
Armadillos are not dangerous to you, but they can do real damage. The digging is the obvious part. The burrows are the bigger problem, because they often run under slabs, driveways and pool decks where you cannot see them.
Why Armadillos Are Everywhere on the East Side
Many of the newer subdivisions in St. Cloud were built right next to cattle pasture, wetlands and conservation land. That open ground is prime armadillo habitat. When fresh sod and irrigated landscape beds go in next door, armadillos follow the moist soil and the grubs living in it.
We get steady calls from neighborhoods off Narcoossee Road, Neptune Road and Canoe Creek Road, and from communities like Harmony and Stevens Plantation. Older parts of town are not immune, but the edge between new lawns and open land is where armadillos do the most damage. A single armadillo can tear up a front yard in one night and move on to the neighbor’s the next. When several homes on the same street report digging, the animal is often living in a burrow along a shared fence line, a drainage swale or the bank of a retention pond.
Damage Armadillos Cause
Armadillos are mostly nocturnal, so you see the damage long before you see the animal. Here is what we find most often:
- Rooted-up lawns. Cone-shaped holes a few inches deep where they dug for grubs and insects.
- Burrows under concrete. Openings at the edge of slabs, sidewalks and driveways.
- Pool deck problems. Burrows that wash out the fill under pavers or concrete around the pool.
- Torn-up landscape beds. Mulch and small plants scattered as they search for food.
Armadillo Removal St Cloud FL Homeowners Rely On
Armadillos are hard to trap with bait. They do not care much about food lures, so trap placement is everything. We look for active burrows and the paths the armadillo uses along fences, walls and the edges of beds, then set traps with guide boards that funnel the animal in. Most armadillos are caught within a few nights when traps are set correctly. We check traps on a schedule so a captured animal is not left sitting for long, and we move traps if the armadillo changes its route. Fresh digging tells us where it is feeding. Sand pushed out of a burrow tells us where it is sleeping.
Nine-banded armadillos are not a protected species in Florida. We handle captured animals in line with FWC rules for nuisance wildlife. After removal, we look at how to keep the next one out, which matters a lot in neighborhoods that border open land.
Dealing With the Burrow
Once the armadillo is gone, the burrow needs attention. An empty hole under a slab or pool deck invites the next armadillo, or other animals, to move in. We confirm the burrow is empty and then close it off. For persistent problems, we can install buried wire barriers along the edge of a slab, deck or shed so animals cannot dig underneath again. That work falls under our wildlife exclusion service.
If you notice cracking or sinking in concrete above an old burrow, talk to a concrete or pool contractor about the fill. Our job is getting the animal out and keeping it out. Closing burrows without trapping first is a mistake we see a lot. The armadillo simply digs a new opening a few feet away, sometimes in a worse spot.
What You Can Do Between Visits
Cut back on overwatering, since soggy soil brings grubs closer to the surface and makes digging easy. Keep the area under decks and sheds closed off. Clear brush piles along the back fence where armadillos like to rest during the day. Armadillos are not the only digger we see in town either. Snakes often use old burrows, which is one more reason to close them up; see our snake removal in St. Cloud page for more. Neighbors in nearby Kissimmee deal with the same issue near pasture land.
More Wildlife Services in St. Cloud
- Wildlife removal St Cloud FL
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- Wildlife exclusion and sealing
- Attic wildlife removal and cleanup
Armadillo Removal in Nearby Cities
Armadillo Removal Questions from St. Cloud Homeowners
Why does my new St. Cloud lawn get dug up every night?
New sod is watered heavily, and wet soil brings grubs and earthworms close to the surface. If your subdivision backs up to pasture or conservation land, armadillos only have to walk a short way to reach it. Trapping the animal stops the digging, and adjusting your irrigation makes the lawn less attractive to the next one.
Is there an armadillo living under my pool deck?
If you see a round opening about six to eight inches wide at the edge of the deck, with loose sand pushed out, it is very likely an active burrow. Do not block it while the animal may be inside. We can confirm activity, trap the armadillo and then close and barrier the burrow so it stays empty.
Do armadillos come out during the day in St. Cloud?
Mostly no. Armadillos are nocturnal, so the digging happens overnight and you find the holes in the morning. You may spot one at dawn or dusk, especially after rain. If you see one, leave it alone and note where it goes. That path often leads straight to the burrow we need to target.
Do you work on community common areas in Osceola County?
Yes. Retention pond banks, entrance landscaping and common lawns in larger communities get hit hard by armadillos. We work with property managers to trap along the problem areas and recommend barriers where burrows keep coming back. We serve residential and commercial properties throughout Central Florida.
Request a Free Inspection in St. Cloud
Tell us what you are hearing or seeing and we will call you back to set up an inspection. For a snake in the house, a bat in a living space or any emergency, call (904) 729-6285 now — we answer 24 hours a day.