So last week I was left to take care of everything here at the ranch as the Hubby had to go out of town for work...No that's not an unusual part of his job but it is a very frustrating part!! With the work that needs to be done here on a daily basis and the kids' schedules it gets to be a bit much when I am handling everything alone! The Hubby does his very best to always try and schedule around the kids' sports etc... which is great because the kids HATE when he's not there!!
So one day last week while I was watching out my kitchen window, looking at all of the pretty birds flying around (we have had an over abundance of Red Robins lately), I see it....An Armadillo!!! Just back there digging away in the ground! UGHH!! I call the Hubby and tell him there are critters invading, and he said I had to shoot them or they will keep coming back. Now Armadillo's are not my favorite things to shoot at, I do not like the fact that they jump straight up in the air when you hit them and run around in circles!! So I take the 22 out and shoot the nasty critter but he had armor of gold! It was only chipping his shell! I hit him 4 times and nothing!! So I had to go reload and when I came back....Yeah....he was gone...
So that night we were gone somewhere late into the evening and when we got home the kids were out letting the dogs out they find another Armadillo in the front yard. So J comes in and asks what gun I'm shooting them with and I told him the 22, so he says well will you open the gun safe so I can go shoot him. I go over and open the safe, get the gun, walk outside, and shoot the Armadillo, it jumps straight into the air then runs off into the dark!! So J was a little mad at me because I didn't let him shoot it well we were in a bit of a bicker at the moment so I choose to do it myself as a "small punishment" :)
So then Friday afternoon I was on the phone with my girlfriend and I am looking out that kitchen window again and lo and behold there's ANOTHER freakin Armadillo LOL!! So we weren't exactly done talking and I didn't want the Armadillo to get out of my view so I decide well I will take my cell with me while I go out to shoot it!! My friend could not believe that I hit it while I was talking to her on the phone LOL!! She asked if I felt bad about killing the nasty thing and I said to her NO way!! These things tear up my yard and they are just vicious looking!! Now I won't just shoot anything but opossums and armadillos are fair game! So then she proceeds to ask me if it is therapeutic to shoot the gun when I am frustrated and I said "sure it is"! So now she's ready to come down and get some shooting lessons LOL!!!!
Friday's kill...Look at those claws!!!
Thing was trying to dig along the concrete of my house!!
Does anybody else have nasty critters that try to make your home their home?! And if so what do you do about it?!
Yeah, they're only cute as plush toys. And is it plague or botulism they carry? Plague, I think.
ReplyDeleteLOL--sorry no armadilllos here....I don't think they could take the -35 below temps!! The only thing we would have to worry about getting in would be mice but we don't have that problem either! Come over and visit--
ReplyDeleteArmadillos -- I don't think I've ever seen a live one....didn't know they were such a pest! I would say mice are our equivalent pest - and they are nasty and stinky too when they up and die if you don't know about them...
ReplyDeleteI must say that I have never seen one of those things here.
ReplyDeleteWe did have a family of badgers for awhile, but they seem to have disappeared for now anyway.
Glad that you got it, those claws look so nasty.
Don't think anybody should be wearing an armadillo costume around YOUR house for a while! ;) They're such annoying critters, and they get into everything! Almost as bad as a raccoon.
ReplyDeleteThey are weird looking creatures!!! And those claws look like they could do a lot of damage. You are a true country girl:)
ReplyDeleteWe don't have the beasts, we do have skunks though! Yuck!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I imagine why I don't show up on your feed is because I'm private.
Don't have much here....rats at times, and raccoons. I think armadillos are pretty bizarre looking. I don't think we even have them around here! We opossum, though. I rarely see them, except as road kill!
ReplyDeleteThey are pretty cool looking and it's always so rare to see them. I've only seen them from afar. I didn't know they were so dangerous and such pests. Do they at least eat or kill other pests?
ReplyDeleteThey look like something that would call Australia home. lol!
Around here we have mice, and prairie dogs and moles.
Leah~ LOL!! Yes they carry bacteria that causes Leprosy. They can also carry tapeworms, salmonella, and rabies!
ReplyDeleteLeAnna~ You totally made LOL!!!
LOR~ No they don't really do anything beneficial!! They eat spiders and scorpions (which we don't have) and they like ants LOL!! So they basically just like to trash your property!!
Most of you are lucky to NOT have these critters!! Their average life span is 12-15 yrs!!
And yes mice are YUCKY!!
Oh I posted yesterday, but my comment didn't come out! They look like disgusting creatures. Obviously we don't have them here. We had rats running around in the roof of our house when we first moved in. They'd run about above our beds while we were trying to sleep and we could hear them chewing through the walls! We put poison down in the end. It was either that or move out!
ReplyDeleteU rock hardcore michelle. props to u not even putting down the cell phone
ReplyDeleteThose darn armadillo's...don't have any where I'm now at, but I 'member em! Oh yea, opossums are uuglyy. Round these parts it's raccoons and skunks.
ReplyDeleteWe have to deal with them too...nasty!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed my visit to your blog!
Julie
www.ridingaside.blogspot.com
yikes, you git 'r done girl!!!
ReplyDeletegp
WHOA!!! I've never seen those things in person and I cannot imagine trying to shoot one! I especially can't handle the thought of something running around alive after I've hit it. Glad you're a better shot than me! :)
ReplyDeleterats with shells....yuck.
ReplyDeleteI'm new and loved this post!! :) I've seen them when I was young and we lived in Texas and Oklahoma, normally just as road kill. I grew up in NE Ks and the big pest would be oppossums. I can't tell you how many times I'd go to gather eggs and those red beady eyes would be looking back at me. My dad took to drowning the suckers, because he didn't want to waste bullets on them! LOL (My brother we worried about being a serial killer because he'd almost drown them and then pull them back up, for them to get one last breath and then kill them from time to time...he's not a serial killer thankfully! LOL)
ReplyDeleteFor those who want to know more about those "nasty critters" check into my book, "Dillos. Roadkill on Extinction Highway?" See
ReplyDeletehttp://dillos.us
Bill Klemm