What Bait to Use to Catch Armadillos

04.27.2004 - Everyone wants to know what bait to use to catch armadillos in cage traps. After all, it's easy to use peanuts to catch a squirrel, or cat food to catch an opossum, or marshmallows to catch a raccoon, so surely there's something that we can throw into a cage trap to catch an armadillo. I shall now examine the various baits that I've heard recommended:

Earthworms: Armadillos eat earthworms, it's true. So I've heard the recommendation of using earthworms for bait. However, this is tricky, because earthworms tend to be smaller than the bars of a cage trap, and they tend to squirm away or underground. So the solution I've heard is to place the worms in a nylon stocking and suspend it from the back of the cage. I've never tried this technique. I'll explain why in the end, but if you want to go to the trouble of obtaining earthworms and sticking them in a stocking and hanging it from the back of the trap, go ahead. It'll do more harm than good, but if you give it a try, let me know how it goes.

Cabbage: A local "expert" swears up and down by cabbage, and implored me to use it in my armadillo trapping. I tested it three times. In each case, I placed two traps side by side, with neither having any advantage that I could tell in terms of location or any other factor. By chance, probably, all three times I caught an armadillo in the cage without the cabbage. Unless cabbage is a deterrent. Which it isn't. But it surely isn't an attractant. The local "expert" went out of business a few years later, by the way.

Rotting Bananas: I think the theory here is that the banana will attract bugs which will attract armadillos. In this case, one could use about any kind of food. Hey, rotting meat would attract maggots.

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I could list other suggested items, but the truth is this: bait of any kind is not only unnecessary, it's most likely going to impede your armadillo trapping by attracting non-target animals like opossums, raccoons, or cats. Armadillos dig their food out of the ground - they rarely eat food already on the surface. They mostly eat live insects and other invertebrates. However, dillos are very easy to trap without bait. Sure, there's a lot of subtleties that go into it, but trap placement is really the only relevant factor - place the trap where an armadillo is going to walk, and you've got him.

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When it comes to trapping armadillos, it's not business as usual. You have to be smart to capture this critter with a rare feeding habit. While it would be obvious to use aromatic foods to trap most wild animals, trapping of an armadillo calls for unorthodox means since it will not eat anything other than the worms it goes hunting deep in the ground to get. But guess what? Trapping the critter could be super easy if you know the trick.

If you have armadillos around your home or in the neighborhood, you may know that these unique creatures have some kind of predictable behavior. You can easily trap them if you follow the right guideline set up by wildlife services or by the state. Even though there are several ways of trapping an armadillo, the most effective means is to use a cage trap. Additionally, you can bait the trap to lure the critter into the trap.

Armadillos feed on insects, worms, fruits, scorpions, and lizards, making them the best baits to use if you want to trap the critters. However, some of these baits may attract other animals like raccoons and squirrels, who may steal and eat them before your prime target comes along. The success in trapping an armadillo lies in the location of the bait and the effectiveness of your bait in attracting the critter. Therefore, you want to be super keen on these two factors.

What's the Best Bait to Use for Trapping Armadillos?

Since armadillos mainly seek their food from beneath the ground, it may be unusual for them to see the bait above the ground. However, their love for smaller animals like insects and invertebrates may land it in your cage trap due to the irresistible temptation of feasting on easily got food. However, these are not the only baits you can use. Below are some of the best baits that you can use in a cage to trap an armadillo.

Earthworms

Earthworms are some of the best foods for armadillos. The critters can easily dig them up from the ground and make a meal out of them. The good thing about using earthworms as bait is that most animals cannot easily spot them. But the downside is that they can easily squirm away from the cage if not placed correctly. So, if you want to use the earthworms as bait, you can put them in a stocking and suspend the stocking at the back of the cage trap. This ensures that the critter will trigger the trap door to close behind it.

Rotten banana

Handling earthworms can be time consuming, especially if you get irritated by their slimy body. Finding plenty of worms is equally a hard yet mundane task. The other alternative bait that you can use is a rotten banana. The banana will likely attract bugs to the cage trap. The presence of bugs in the cage will, in turn, attract armadillos to the cage.

Smelly food

Some people use smelly food such as fish and meat to attract the armadillos into the cage trap. The critters are attracted to smelly foods and will always head towards the direction of the smell. However, the scent can also attract other animals such as raccoons and opossums. With the above baits, your chances of catching an armadillo in a cage are high.