Destructive Armadillo in My Yard

[Dogowski]

And it gets worse. He gave up on the hole that covered. We just noticed that he was in the mulch beds for the first time. Then I saw a large ant pile next to the house. Except, it wasn’t. It’s a new burrow. He dug behind a plant and under the weed barrier cloth. Now I don’t know if he’s in there or not. I was planning on going to EBR, but now this is the priority. It’s almost as though he’s mocking me lol. He dug this within six feet of where I was sitting and watching last night. Now, it’s going to be an all nighter tonight.

That's a very destructive dillo that's messing up your house and property! It just keeps digging in.

 

[Billm]

So I put a fresh battery in the DNT TNC225R, filled the Ghost .25 and loaded a full mag. I left it ready on the table. Placed the new trail cam (Stealthcam Revolver 360 Pro 2.0) in the front yard for the third night. Bam! At 8:29pm I got a new alert. I had a lot of false alarms last night, so I had disabled 3 of the zones. I took a quick look at the camera feed before I sneaked out with the Ghost HP. Then I decided the sucker was too big for my lowly Ghost .25. The Sonoran .30 with AOA power tune was at the ready. But it too was a little on the weak side. This a big one, for around here.

 

[Ezana4CE]

So I put a fresh battery in the DNT TNC225R, filled the Ghost .25 and loaded a full mag. I left it ready on the table. Placed the new trail cam (Stealthcam Revolver 360 Pro 2.0) in the front yard for the third night. Bam! At 8:29pm I got a new alert. I had a lot of false alarms last night, so I had disabled 3 of the zones. I took a quick look at the camera feed before I sneaked out with the Ghost HP. Then I decided the sucker was too big for my lowly Ghost .25. The Sonoran .30 with AOA power tune was at the ready. But it too was a little on the weak side. This a big one, for around here.

@Billm Is that a bear?

 

[Dogowski]

@Billm Is that a bear?

I think it is! Gonna need a bigger gun.

 

[FL22]

So I put a fresh battery in the DNT TNC225R, filled the Ghost .25 and loaded a full mag. I left it ready on the table. Placed the new trail cam (Stealthcam Revolver 360 Pro 2.0) in the front yard for the third night. Bam! At 8:29pm I got a new alert. I had a lot of false alarms last night, so I had disabled 3 of the zones. I took a quick look at the camera feed before I sneaked out with the Ghost HP. Then I decided the sucker was too big for my lowly Ghost .25. The Sonoran .30 with AOA power tune was at the ready. But it too was a little on the weak side. This a big one, for around here.

Looks like Papa bear lol. BIG + 1 on the trail cam!!
8:30pm?? I would definitely have something very capable on my person if I had to go out into the yard .

So are you planning on collecting more data maybe calling FWC and have a discussion?

 

[Billm]

@Billm Is that a bear?

Yes, I’ve lived in this house for three years this month and I’ve had eight bear encounters. Two of them included a sow with two cubs. This is the first at night. This one freaked my wife out, as it was standing looking through the window as I had accidentally forgot to close the blinds. This is also the largest black bear that I have seen here in Florida in thirty years. He’s 3.5’ at the shoulder on all fours.

 

[Ezana4CE]

Yes, I’ve lived in this house for three years this month and I’ve had eight bear encounters. Two of them included a sow with two cubs. This is the first o eat night. This one freaked my wife out, as it was standing looking through the window as I had accidentally forgot to close the blinds. This is also the largest black bear that I have seen here in Florida in thirty years. He’s 3.5’ at the shoulder in all fours.

@Billm I had to ask because when I think of Florida, bears don’t usually come to mind. A Puma maybe or an alligator, but not a bear. I’d definitely hunt those annually.

Do they also damage property out there?

 

[Billm]

Looks like Papa bear lol. BIG + 1 on the trail cam!!
8:30pm?? I would definitely have something very capable on my person if I had to go out into the yard .

So are you planning on collecting more data maybe calling FWC and have a discussion?

Yes, he’s big. At least for the Panhandle. I mentioned before on here before, that I’m not nervous to walk around the property at night. There’s no lighting at night other than the house lights. I sold a lot of my powder burners about 4 years ago after my neck surgery. I pulled out a 12ga pump and went to put some slugs in it, only to find all my ammo is 3” and 3.5” magnum. I’ve still got a 30-30.
I actually called FWC, I wanted it documented. I had a sow and two cubs charge my grandson standing at my back French doors. We are over run with bears. They just charged a guy, because he shot a bear in his yard, because he thought it was threatening his kids. FWC were too far away, so they sent a deputy. One of the children next door is no-verbal autistic and I’m concerned for him and the other kids. I’m sitting on the corner of the 464,000 acre Eglin AFB and three adjacent WMAs and so a relocation might be in order. They really need to have a bear season here. I’d love to do that.

 

[Billm]

And it gets worse lol. 1:37am itgies off again. By the time I got out there, he had scampered. He was there for three minutes. I did learn that the TNC225R might be a little too much base power for this job. A reflex on the TalonP might be a better option. Darn, and I sold my Reflex sights with my ARs. Might have to go shopping.

 

[Billm]

@Billm I had to ask because when I think of Florida, bears don’t usually come to mind. A Puma maybe or an alligator, but not a bear. I’d definitely hunt those annually.

Do they also damage property out there?

I know they do some damage. The big issue is there are lots of encounters in built up areas. I was a fanatic hunter from 1992-2008 and I did a lot of hunting within 20 miles of where I live now. When I lived in San Antonio I even drove over here a few times to deer hunt, which some people thought was crazy lol. I hunted bow season, gun season, post gun bow season, muzzleloading season and turkey season. In those sixteen years I never saw a black bear. I saw one once on the side of the road about 5 miles from where I live now and that was about ten years ago. Now, they’re constantly walking through subdivisions etc.. I love the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC), but I don’t trust them with stuff like this. In 1995-1998 I bow hunted Osceola State Forest. Hunters and farmers were complaining that they were being stalked by panthers and that there were panther attacks on live stock. The FWC publicly stated that there were no panthers that far north in Florida (just south of the Georgia state line). A few incidents later and they had to come out and admit that they had released Texas cougars into the forest hoping to expand the panther population and range. They had to trap and remove them. I think they’ve done so well at repopulating the Florida bear population that they’ve over done it. We have really liberal airgun hunting laws. In my opinion maybe too liberal. You can hunt deer with a .30 cal airgun here with no min weight or min fpe limit. I hope hunters aren’t hunting deer with a 50gr .30. Just my opinion. I think Florida needs a meaningful hunting season for black bear and maybe even a few airgun only days or quotas. I don’t know what airgun specs would be legitimate for black bear, but there’s plenty of airgun hunters on here like you that could probably provide some input.

 

[Ezana4CE]

I know they do some damage. The big issue is there are lots of encounters in built up areas. I was a fanatic hunter from 1992-2008 and I did a lot of hunting within 20 miles of where I live now. When I lived in San Antonio I even drove over here a few times to deer hunt, which some people thought was crazy lol. I hunted bow season, gun season, post gun bow season, muzzleloading season and turkey season. In those sixteen years I never saw a black bear. I saw one once on the side of the road about 5 miles from where I live now and that was about ten years ago. Now, they’re constantly walking through subdivisions etc.. I love the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC), but I don’t trust them with stuff like this. In 1995-1998 I bow hunted Osceola State Forest. Hunters and farmers were complaining that they were being stalked by panthers and that there were panther attacks on live stock. The FWC publicly stated that there were no panthers that far north in Florida (just south of the Georgia state line). A few incidents later and they had to come out and admit that they had released Texas cougars into the forest hoping to expand the panther population and range. They had to trap and remove them. I think they’ve done so well at repopulating the Florida bear population that they’ve over done it. We have really liberal airgun hunting laws. In my opinion maybe too liberal. You can hunt deer with a .30 cal airgun here with no min weight or min fpe limit. I hope hunters aren’t hunting deer with a 50gr .30. Just my opinion. I think Florida needs a meaningful hunting season for black bear and maybe even a few airgun only days or quotas. I don’t know what airgun specs would be legitimate for black bear, but there’s plenty of airgun hunters on here like you that could probably provide some input.

@Billm Wow! You think the state allowed bears to be brought in and released? That’s nuts. For black bear I would think that a minimum .45 air rifle pushing 400+ FPE would be sufficient shooting heavy solid projectiles (slugs or air bolts) from within 60 yards. I’d say you would need something with the ability to penetrate fur, fat, muscle, and possibly bone to reach vital organs for what I would consider an ethcal harvest. I wouldn’t want a wounded bear near children, seniors, me, or anyone I care about. Black bears don’t get too big. A 350 lb black bear is big to me. Although 350 seems small for a bear, it is still a big and powerful animal. These aren’t typically 6’ bears.

Did you ever catch the armadillo? Some got in my yard when I was out coyote and hog hunting the other night.

 

[Billm]

I don’t think they brought bears in, I just think they’ve over protected them. Every year they talk about bringing back bear hunting and cave in to the naysayers. No, the Armadillo showed up in the early hours, but He was gone when I got out there.

 

[Ezana4CE]

I don’t think they brought bears in, I just think they’ve over protected them. Every year they talk about bringing back bear hunting and cave in to the naysayers. No, the Armadillo showed up in the early hours, but He was gone when I got out there.

@Billm Damn. That’s crazy to not have a season with all of the sightings. Don’t know what the number look like out there.

As for the dillo at least you have a timeframe baseline. You are on track and you will get him.

 

[FL22]

@Billm you should have a look at this.

Bear

Bear

myfwc.com

 

[Billm]

@Billm you should have a look at this.

Bear

Bear

myfwc.com

Yet, it doesn’t include Sant Rosa or Okaloosa counties. It’s a great start though.

 

[Billm]

This gives you an idea and doesn’t include all the sitings not reported. All of my sitings have occurred within 100yds and only one at night.

 

[Ezana4CE]

@Billm Any updates on killing that dillo?

 

[Billm]

@Billm Any updates on killing that dillo?

He hasn’t shown back up yet. I’m ready though lol. Hopefully he will leave his big furry friend at home.

 

[Ezana4CE]

He hasn’t shown back up yet. I’m ready though lol. Hopefully he will leave his big furry friend at home.

@Billm Yea, that’s a first. I wasn’t expecting the dillo to have a bodyguard.

 

[Billm]

I feel like I’m living in the twilight zone lol. Last night we went out until late and I forgot to put the trail cam out. The dillo came back an dug under the breeze block we placed on top of where he had been burrowing. The rabbit I saw is dead in the road. I’ll be back out tonight lol.