No question that "crossbow" could do some serious damage to a man. And weren't we talking about armadillo's? Lol! I'm supposed to be outside waiting on him/them, yet once again, a woman side tracks me. Lol! Is there any hope for us males?
A pellet gun should work too. I shoot a pump-up one around here. It'll take care of most small varmits - just makes a kind of "thwack" sound. Not very loud. You'd have to get a 'dillo in the head, tho...
So here is what I did. I went around to my neighbors, all except for one had the same issue with the armadillos. They all gave me the OK to shoot the "sumbitch" (one of my neighbor's term). I have this week off for vacation, so I sat outside Monday night around midnight with some wine and a good audio book. Saw the sumbitch come through the fence around 1:30 am. They obviously don't have the best eyesight. I blew his ass into the next universe with one shot. Then I took some of the blood and put it in the hole under the AC unit and filled with top soil. It hasn't been disturbed since then. I'll see if this holds, because from what I gather these little rodents don't live alone. The guy who catches them told me about the blood thing. Says they smell the blood and run like hell as it forces a panic in them.