PK-W06 · Nuisance wildlife

How to get rid of Nine-banded armadillos

Dasypus novemcinctus

Armadillos root in lawns for insects and can den under sheds. They are associated with Mycobacterium leprae in some southern research — do not handle them, and do not cook folklore. Control is exclusion of dens, reducing night watering that brings grubs to the surface, and legal trapping where allowed. They are not rodents. A fence must go down as well as up because they dig.

Nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) — identification photo
Identification photo of Nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus). Use this with the notes below — size, color, and markings matter more than a single photo, and look-alikes are listed in the sidebar.

How to identify Nine-banded armadillo

  • Armored bands, nocturnal, cone digging in turf, burrows under slabs and sheds.
  • Tracks and rooted holes in lawns.

Signs of an infestation

  • Pitted lawns in the morning.
  • A den under a shed. Roadkill in the South (sadly diagnostic of range).

Biology and why they show up

Insectivores, poor vision, expanding range with climate and habitat. They can swim. Young may share burrows.

Health and property risk

Lawn damage, undermining, and a leprosy-association reason not to wrestle them. Bites if handled. Vehicle collisions.

Proven control sequence

Work in this order. Skipping inspection or exclusion is why most “treatments” bounce back in a week.

  1. Do not handle. Public-health caution. Not a pet.
  2. Exclude dens with buried mesh after vacancy. Confirm the animal is out. Same deck-skirt logic.
  3. Reduce night irrigation if grub hunting is the draw. Turf IPM. Not a guarantee.

Prevention that actually sticks

  • Skirt sheds. Do not leave pet food out.
  • Fence buried at the base if legal and practical.

When to hire a licensed professional

HOAs, large properties, and dens under occupied structures.

Legal and safety notes. State wildlife rules. Leprosy association is a handling warning, not a panic about walking in a yard. Cooked armadillo folklore is a public-health no.

United States and Tier 1 notes

Texas, Gulf, Southeast, expanding north. Not a New England native.

Common questions

Can I get leprosy from my yard?

Risk is associated with handling armadillos, not mowing. Do not grab them. See CDC on Hansen’s disease and armadillos if you need the medical nuance.

Sources

Written by the Pest Kill Editorial Team. Published August 25, 2026. Last reviewed September 13, 2026.