Armadillo Removal in Commerce, GA
Woke up to small cone-shaped holes all over the yard and mulch thrown out of the beds? That's an armadillo, and it probably came in from the fields or woods nearby. Call us and tell us about the job — we will confirm the local crew for your county before any work starts.
Armadillos digging up your Commerce yard
Armadillos have been moving north through Georgia for years, and our crew says they're more common every year. Commerce is surrounded by the kind of land they like: pasture, field edges, wood lines and creek bottoms with soft soil. At night they walk into town and dig for grubs, earthworms and other insects in yards and gardens. The sign is easy to spot in the morning: small cone-shaped holes across the lawn, and mulch and soil thrown out of the flower beds. Some people say it looks like hogs rooted the yard.
Older Commerce homes add one more problem. A house raised on brick piers, with skirting that doesn't reach all the way to the ground, is an easy place for an armadillo to dig under. Once it's under the floor, it can make a den in the crawlspace. The store-bought fixes most people try first don't work. What does work is trapping the animal on the paths it uses and closing off the spaces it digs into.
Holes in the lawn vs. a burrow under the house
There are two kinds of armadillo damage. The holes in the lawn and beds are from feeding. They're annoying and they come back every night, but they can be repaired. The bigger concern is a burrow. Armadillos dig dens under porches, sheds, steps, AC pads and the edges of a foundation. On a raised mill house, that can mean a den right in the crawlspace under your floor. Over time, digging next to piers and footings can weaken the soil around them.
Why they come into town
Armadillos eat what lives a few inches down in the soil, and they find it by smell. A watered lawn or a garden bed full of earthworms is an easy meal, and the fields, fence rows and woods around Commerce give them a place to hide during the day just a short walk away. They're especially active when the ground is soft after rain. Georgia's mild winters don't slow them down much either.
Repellents, mothballs and grub killer don't help
Most people try something from the store first: mothballs, castor oil granules, predator urine or ultrasonic stakes. None of them reliably keeps armadillos away. Mothballs especially should never be used for an animal problem. Treating the lawn for grubs isn't recommended either. It sounds like it should remove the food, but the armadillo usually just digs harder and in more places looking for what's left, and the damage gets worse.
Trapping depends on where the trap goes
There's no bait that works on armadillos, so the trap has to go where the animal already walks. A pro looks at the fresh holes, the burrow entrances and the path between the yard and the woods or field, and sets traps right on that line. Many pros use wooden box traps set in place ahead of time, with boards or fencing to guide the armadillo in. There are no legal restrictions on trapping armadillos in Georgia, but placement is what makes it work.
Closing off the crawlspace and burrows
Catching the armadillo solves today's problem. Closing the spaces it used solves the next one. Once the pro is sure the animal and any young are out, open burrows under porches, steps and sheds are filled, and the gap between the skirting and the ground on a raised house is closed with metal screening buried a few inches into the soil so a new armadillo can't dig under it.
When another one shows up
With so much farmland and woods around Commerce, catching one armadillo doesn't mean another won't follow the same path in. That's why closing burrows and crawlspace gaps matters as much as the trapping. If fresh holes show up again weeks later, it's usually a new animal, and the same approach works: find its path and set the trap there.
Common armadillo questions in Commerce
Something is digging cone-shaped holes in my lawn in Commerce — what is it?+
Do armadillo repellents, mothballs or ultrasonic stakes work?+
There's a burrow under my old porch or shed — is that an armadillo?+
How do you actually get rid of an armadillo?+
Will an armadillo damage my foundation?+
How much does armadillo removal cost in Commerce?+
Other Commerce problems that come with armadillos
Our wildlife crew handles these closely related problems — the ones that most often turn up with a armadillo issue.
Got more than armadillos in Commerce?
Armadillos aren't the only animals coming in from the fields to a Commerce yard at night. See everything we handle locally on the Commerce wildlife removal hub, or jump to Georgia wildlife removal.
Want the background before you call? Read our statewide guide: Armadillos tearing up your Georgia lawn.
One call to your Commerce armadillo crew
An armadillo will keep coming back to a yard that feeds it, and one that digs under a raised house can work its way into the crawlspace. Call us and tell us about the job — we will confirm the local crew for your county before any work starts.
- Local to Jackson County. Georgia DNR-compliant handling — call to ask about licensing and insurance.
- Trapping on its path. Traps set where the armadillo actually walks, plus closing off the spaces it digs under.
- Done right. Removal, exclusion and cleanup.