-A is set automatically for the root user, from
ls(1)
Code:
-A Include directory entries whose names begin with a dot (`.')
except for . and ... Automatically set for the super-user unless
-I is specified.
You can use -I (That's a capital i) to prevent this, again from
ls(1):
Code:
-I Prevent -A from being automatically set for the super-user.
IIRC -I was introduced in FreeBSD 6, it's not present in the other BSD's or GNU ls.