If an area of your yard that had previously been smooth suddenly appears to have been plundered by treasure seekers hunting one small shovel-full at a time, chances are the culprit was a nine-banded armadillo.

Nine-banded armadillos arose as a species in South America and first appeared in Texas after 1850. Today they’re found throughout the South and Midwest in surprising numbers. According to wildlife biologists, the rapid expansion of their range is due to a combination of factors, including man’s alteration of the habitat, elimination of large predators and the intentional release of captive armadillos.

Official guidance on how to control armadillos on your property is not encouraging. Most such advice begins with words to the effect of, “Get used to them,” but there are some things that can be done to keep them out of your lawn, where they dig for grubs and insects. Keeping them out of your turkey and quail habitat, where they eat eggs, isn’t nearly as simple.

Armadillos are mammals and are born in litters of four. Females begin reproducing at age 1 and typically have one litter per year throughout their lifespan, which averages 12 to 15 years.

Few natural predators

Other than cars and coyotes, they have no predators in their environment besides man. Their outer shell, or carapace, is made from a keratin substance similar to human fingernails.

Although armadillos run well and burrow quickly to escape harm, their natural response to being startled can also include jumping three to four feet straight up, a practice that does not serve it well when crossing roads.

Generally, armadillos eat grubs, beetles, ants and worms, but they will also eat carrion as well as eggs. They find food through their acute sense of smell.

Controlling, or at least discouraging, armadillos from digging in lawns can be affected by using pesticides to eliminate the food they’re hunting when they dig. Fencing can help, but fences must extend below ground level to be effective and, even then, the depth of the fence must reach beyond the depth to which an armadillo is willing to dig – a depth determined individually, one armadillo at a time.

Eliminating the food source isn’t an option for wildlife land managers, of course, since it’s the armadillo’s food source they’re trying to protect. In these situations, trapping and shooting are the only effective options. These options are made potentially hazardous by the fact that armadillos can carry leprosy.

Dreaded disease

Armadillos are one of the few non-human animals known to carry the bacterium that causes leprosy. Their unusually low body temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit makes them a good host of the bacteria, which prefers cooler temperatures. Some studies conducted throughout the Gulf Coastal states have found it on 15 to 20 percent of armadillos in the wild.

Transmission to humans is possible, of course, but relatively rare because it is not highly contagious. Catching it requires prolonged contact with an infected animal, such as by butchering and eating it, something wildlife officials don’t recommend.