Probably an armadillo, but also could be a skunk, as skunks dig for insects the same way armadillos do. A skunk will travel several miles per night searching for food, and the little holes they dig are slightly more conical in shape than the ones dug by armadillos.

I guess we have gotten more laid back about the armadillos over the years. We haven't shot one in quite a few years now. We just ignore their holes (admittedly this can require quite a bit of forebearance at times). We also don't have as many as we once had---maybe 1 or 2 a year, though sometimes for prolonged periods. Back when they were so incredibly bad, I think we'd had a big influx of them after a neighboring property that had been heavily wooded was bulldozed. The dillos had to go somewhere when their habitat was destroyed, and I guess they came here. I try to tolerate their digging and console myself with the fact that they are eating grubs and also aerating the soil.

To get rid of them, what worked best for me was to put out Milky Spore Powder to kill the grubs. I believe you have to use it at a specific part of the year in order for it to be effective, and it seems like the specfic part of the year you put out Milky Spore Powder here is in August.

There are some repellants you can buy and sprinkle that supposedly will repel them, but I haven't found that animal repellents, in general, work all that well and mostly are a waste of money.

If I want an armadillo to go away, I just go outside and start following it around the yard, following pretty closely. It gets nervous and leaves. Our chickens, in fact, do not like the armadilloes and will follow them around until they leave, so maybe you just need some free-range chickens (which I expect the HOA doesn't allow). Sometimes I'll put a dog on a leash and go outside with it. I just want for the armadillo to see the dog. The dog doesn't have to chase it or anything. Armadillo sees dog and armadillo leaves.

If you have coyotes, bobcats, feral dogs or even raccoons, they'll take care of the armadillo for you, but maybe not until winter when the predators get really hungry. We've had bobcats dig armadillos out of their holes and kill/eat them. We know this because it has happened on nights when we were sleeping with the windows open and we heard the whole sorry mess.....and it was not pleasant. Upon going outdoors the next day and traipsing off into the woods, we found the dug-up armadillo burrow and pieces of its shell.

Dawn