Story by Brooke Dougherty
Graphic by Jonathan Avila Flores
Sometimes, in the late hours of the night, Jason Bullard sets out armed with his thermal rifle scope and accompanied by his dog, Pete, in search of his prey.
He’s hunting armadillos.
His official title? A North Carolina Wildlife Control Agent.
The Scaly Villains of Western North Carolina
Trained, licensed and regulated by the state, Bullard is an independent operator working the Highlands and Cashiers area.
Scouring the land, armadillos may look innocent, but can destroy plots of land as they scavenge for food.
Armadillos prefer to stay in the edge of the woodland where they can find their food sources, Bullard said, but they sometimes venture farther out.
Down they burrow – into the ground chasing after a wide range of insects and invertebrates. Termites, cockroaches and beetles make the cut. Acres of land can be destroyed overnight.
“If you don’t have a beautifully manicured yard, you probably wouldn’t know it,” Bullard said.
“But when (armadillos) come out onto a well-groomed, well-manicured golf course or country club property, it looks like you have plowed up the lawn.”
Bullard likens the destruction to taking a tent stake, hammering it about 6 or 7 inches into the ground and then making circles with the stake before pulling it out.
“But they’ll do that hundreds and hundreds of times in one confined area chasing their food source,” he said. “You’ll have those dirt holes scarring up your yard and the only way to repair that is to get turf out there or plow it all up and plant new grass.
“So, typical damage up here runs in the many thousands of dollars.”
What is Drawing Armadillos to NC?
Armadillos have flocked to North Carolina in recent years, mostly in Western North Carolina.
Colleen Olfenbuttel, the black bear and furbearer biologist for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, said that these armadillo sightings have continued to grow exponentially.
“As of 2021 have confirmed armadillo observations in 26 of 100 counties of North Carolina,” Olfenbuttel said.
North Carolina’s waterways and major rivers were thought to be a barrier to armadillo expansion, she said, but armadillos have a mechanism where they become very buoyant.
The scaly critters also have proved to be more resilient to cold weather in high-elevation mountains than previously thought.
“If it’s only below freezing conditions for a few days, they can ride it out,” Olfenbuttel said.
Warmer temperatures have allowed armadillos to expand at a quicker pace. Which is good news for armadillos – bad news for home owners who invest time in money in upkeeping their property.
Because armadillos aren’t native to NC., people are allowed to hunt them year-round.
Although the regulated trapping season runs from Nov. 1 through the end of February, Olfenbuttel said the agency will issue a permit to allow trappings to occur outside the season once armadillo damage has been confirmed.
The Life of an Armadillo Bounty Hunter
Bullard said that trapping an armadillo is nearly impossible.
“It’s kind of like trapping a bumper car,” he said. “You have to install boards, and you’d have to make a funnel shaped maze into a trap. And, so, it’s only by accident that you ever trap an armadillo.”
Instead, the most effective way to remove the mammals is to shoot them at night.
That’s where Bullard comes in.
Bullard’s services vary, but a standard service call is roughly $125 and it goes up from there depending on how many nights he has to engage.
When asked what action a homeowner could take themselves after seeing an armadillo, Bullard said that people have to be careful because a low percentage of them carry leprosy.
It’s hard to transmit leprosy from armadillos to humans because our body temperature is high enough. But Bullard said that someone with a compromised immune system or infection that’s lowered their resistance could be contaminated after coming in contact with armadillo blood.
When Bullard gets those calls, he often brings his dog, who is a Stephens Cur scent hound.
The breed was originally bred for racoon hunting in Kentucky. But when Pete’s previous owner attempted to use him to hunt for racoons, the dog would leave the pack and dig up a groundhog.
“The owner contacted me and said ‘Hey, look, do you do any groundhog work or anything?’ I said ‘Yeah, absolutely,” Bullard said.
Bullard said that he took Pete out and they found some fresh Armadillo damage.
“Pete smelled it and got all excited about it,” Bullard said. “I turned him loose and he runs off about 100 yards and I hear it start barking and I go find him. And he’s caught and is holding an armadillo.
“And I said ‘Well, this is something I can work with.”’
What To Do If You See an Armadillo:
Bullard said that there is no known 100% effective do-it-yourself armadillo repellent.
However, Bullard notes that one way to avoid armadillo damage is to have your lawn treated for grubs to deter armadillos from trying to eat them.
“Because if there’s no food source there, they really have no interest there,” Bullard said.
If you happen to see an armadillo, you can upload a picture to the I-naturalist website, call the human wildlife helpline or email wildlifehelpline@ncwildlife.org.
