What's the best way to get rid of chipmunks?

[toddmd2]

I'm getting ready to spread a ton of mulch around the house, but we have a bit of a chipmunk problem. I wouldn't call it an infestation, but between the chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits I could be running a petting zoo.

Back to the problem. I want to get rid of the chipmunks before I lay the mulch because they're digging holes all over the beds. What's the best way to get rid of them? I don't really care about being humane here, I'm looking for effectiveness. A friend of mine told me to soak up bacon fat with cotton balls and place them near the holes. They eat them, can't digest them, and die. I don't need a reason to cook bacon and if the grease will help me kill off these pests even better. I just worry about local outdoor pets getting into the cottonballs. What would you guys suggest?

[toddmd2]

After doing some more poking around I found this method which I'm going to employ in the next couple days.

Take a five gallon bucket, fill it half full with water and coat the top with sunflower seeds. Place it near a step and create a ramp leading to the bucket from the step and make sure to let a little of the ramp hang over the lip of the bucket to create a diving board. Sprinkle a few seeds leading up the ramp. Those chippies will effectively walk the plank and end up drowning in the bucket. I'll let you know how it works.

[jwholden]

OK, so some animals are digging holes.

How much of an effect is this having on your landscape? If your landscape looks like a 10 with no holes what would you rate it with the holes? How much labor is involved in raking your mulch once in a while to smooth it out?

There is a term called integrated pest management that entails tolerating a certain level of damage from pests, insects, disease, etc. before it becomes neccesary to eradicate it. It is more in balance with the ecosystem and cheaper in the long run.

I understand that mice in the house is a bad thing and need to be treated. I understand that grubs eating a lawn needs to be treated (grubs are usually a sign of bigger problems which should be addressed first).

So all the squirrells, chipmunks, and rabbits must die because of some holes in your mulch?

I DO NOT AGREE WITH YOUR LOGIC.

Why not scare the animals away from your yard. Some urine from predators sprayed around the yard will work. Recordings of predators that play randomly to will scare away the creatures. Let your dog spend more time outdoors to encourage creatures to find a new home.

I pray that an alien life form doesn't happen upon our planet and see us as insignificant little creatures that need to be 'gotten rid of'.

[Laineygal]

THANK YOU JWHOLDEN.

[Pelican]

A box trap baited with apples will work every time, and you can release the chipmunk in the woods far from home.

Personally, I find chipmunks to be very interesting. I've had them run across my feet while sitting outside. I've learned what their different calls mean and enjoy watching them gather their food.

I'm just curious....have you ever watched an animal drown?

[TrickyDick]

I agree with everyone. Drowning little animals is pretty sick. If for whatever reason you feel they need to die rather than be scared away or trapped and moved the least you can do kill them quickly. Are the holes in your mulch really reason for torture?

[Stonehenge]

From a more pragmatic standpoint, if there's something in your landscape that has attracted enough animals to seed a petting zoo, eradicating the current crop does only that - eradicates the current crop. There will be more to follow.

In part of my own yard I discovered a hole that's about the diameter of a golfball and at least 2' deep. Turned out to be a chipmunk hole (or a snake hole made by a very good chipmunk hunter, because chipmunks were running right in). Didn't really bother me all that much, but even if it did, I know new tenants would move in shortly after the old ones "moved out".

For me, mice and the diseases they carry into a house are a different animal (no pun intended), and for them I have several traditional traps as well as several of the 5 gallon bucket types you describe (baited with peanut butter), filled a few inches with antifreeze (preserves the carcas, preventing the nasty smell of rotting carcasses).

But when the choice is the health of my kids or mice, I'm taking my kids every time.

But for little chippy, I might try the predator urine. The effect might last longer and be cheaper.

My $.02, anyway.

[toddmd2]

1) These things are everywhere and they're really tearing up my beds. There are tons of holes around my foundation and when I'm in the basement I can hear them skittering around the outside of the walls. There's no two ways about it, the population needs thinning.

2) From everything I've read, capturing and releasing them elsewhere ends in death anyway because they don't know where to find food in their new environment and end up starving.

3) Using predator urine, in my understanding, is spotty at best. And since there hasn't been a natural predator to the chippies in my neighborhood in decades I doubt it would work.

4) I got four of them in the first 24 hours.

[familyguy]

I often wish that they sold "round up" for people.....

[Pelican]

2) From everything I've read, capturing and releasing them elsewhere ends in death anyway because they don't know where to find food in their new environment and end up starving.
False!!! I don't know where you read this but it is way off base. Chipmunks are foragers and it is their nature to search for food.

There must be a food source for these pests nearby or they would not be giving you a problem. Eliminate the food source and they will go away on their own. They will continue to be a problem otherwise.

Sorry bud, but drowning is just not an acceptable method of pest control. If you must kill them, find a more humane way to do it.

[Stonehenge]

I can see how the scratching noises inside the house could stoke your fire. I know it did for my mouse problem. I was ready to grab them with my bare hands and separate their heads from their necks.

I'm not sure that there's a way everyone can agree on for solving this problem - so I'll just say good luck in finding a solution that works for you.

[stonebear]

If you have a dog you might try putting it in the area on a lead for an hour or two each day. At least let it do it's business there once in a while.

Will it catch the little critters? Probably not, but it will scare the daylights out of them, give the dog some fun exercise and contribute some predator urine to boot.

Best wishes on your endeavor.

[EpicInterlock]

I am absolutely againist hurting animals of any kind....but don't think I'm a tree hugger or a vegan. I'm a carnivore, and proud of it.
Having said that, the meat we eat nowadays are humanely "taken care off", meaning that there aren't pain involved, or as far as I know.
When I read this thread, I was sickened to hear of chipmunks being drowned. If they absolutely had to be rid of, I'd rather use traps and be released somewhere else.

This makes me sick.....sorry.

[Dale Wiley]

Drowning chipmuncks ?? That's just wrong....

Our landscape is a certified Audubon and Wildlife Federation wildlife habitat. We have squirrels, tons of birds, chickens, a chipmunk now and then,and fish. My wife would love to have a couple more chipmunks.

We sit in the patio / shade hosue and watch all these animals. We have had some problems with rats being attracted to the sunflower seed,s but they are humanly dispatched by me and my .22 whilst sitting in shade house. And the birds come back in less than a minute after I whack a rat.

Come on out here and let me hold your head under water so you can inspect my pond and see how long you can breath like that.

[LandArts]

You kill it, you eat it...

[phototropic1]

Why not try attracting some birds of prey, such as hawks. Build a perch or nesting platform and watch nature take it's course. Here's some more info:

http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1602/eb1602.html

I'm sure there's much more to be found if you do a search for "attracting birds of prey".

[croc]

You bleeding hearts really get me. I dont mean to upset you but a chipmunk is only a rat with racing stipes . They are not named Alvin and Simon. The damage they do to your foundation is costly and rats and other vermin will use the tunnels they dig. If you want to save the rats I think your on the wrong forum. I tried evrything I could think of except poison.And Im not taking them off somewhere where they will be someone else's problem. The bucket works and it gets rid of them.

[yeahground]

You bleeding hearts really get me. I dont mean to upset you but a chipmunk is only a rat with racing stipes . They are not named Alvin and Simon. The damage they do to your foundation is costly and rats and other vermin will use the tunnels they dig. If you want to save the rats I think your on the wrong forum. I tried evrything I could think of except poison.And Im not taking them off somewhere where they will be someone else's problem. The bucket works and it gets rid of them.



I don't really think it has to do with bleeding hearts, it has more to do with more humane alternatives. I would think that if a ' infestation of rats with racing stripes' is that bad in your area, you may contact your local humane society for methods of removal or maybe your city needs to start letting some cats loose in the neighborhood.

Here where I live, cats are ' free to roam ' and I am sure they are doing a pretty good job cleaning up the town.

I cant wait to see what happends when the snakes move in and your wife tells you your moving out. Good luck getting rid of snakes with a bucket.

I realize the OP was simply looking for some type of extermination, but I would hope this forum attempts to stay closer to the more humane ways of dealing with problems than drowning in a bucket....

sometimes ....

[Stonehenge]

...I think your on the wrong forum...

I'm not on one side or the other, I just find this comment funny from someone who just registered yesterday and has made one post.

[chipmunkhater]

Enough all you animal enthusiasts, these critters are destroying my property.
I am not calling for the destruction of all of them, but I must have hundreds
of them on my property and they have already destroyed my retaining wall
and my yard, flower beds. I use an animal friendly
trap with cracked corn to lure them in, then drown them. I must kill
over 50-75 a summer, and that's every summer. Obviously there are lots
more down there somewhere, and since its my property I want them out.

[LandEscapes]

My best recommendation would be not to purchase a property near wildlife habitat

[Dedalian Force]

One thing I have not found was that chipmunks, when tunneling under foundations (usually with houses without a basement), can cause extremely expensive foundation problems.

This is my concern. As far as taking live chipmunks somewhere else and dumping them, where I live, if the same laws apply to chipmunks that apply to squirrels, doing so is illegal.

I would not be so concerned about the flower beds as I would about the foundation of my house. Or, in the case of a crawl space, a nest of chippys getting in there and doing very expensive damage.

[peteg]

I love chipmunk stew.

[kathymac1949]

Sorry about those who care more about destructive, disease/flea/tick-carrying rodents than property values, but the bucket/ramp system is the best, most effective. 72 in one week so far. I usually sit on my deck and shoot them with a pellet gun, but my eyes aren't what they used to be, I miss a lot and they are small and fast.

I was told about the bucket system and the first day, it was amazing, whole chipmunk families gone. I move the bucket around the yard and leave it there until no more show up floating.

I am recycling the chipmunks as their carcasses go out to the edge of the property/forest to feed the raccoons so they don't come up to the house - source of fresh meat. Also, no rat traps to empty, no sticky boards that could catch birds, no poison worms or seeds, no sulfur gas, nothing contaminating the carcasses.

[kathymac1949]

I love chipmunk stew.

Bucket system, only way to go. read my reply just below yours.

[mybigdog1]

Wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it but chipmunks over a 2 and half year period ate through and into my concrete block stairs. First spring I moved into my house I noticed concrete crumbling from my stairs. I thought previous owner salted heavy causing the problem. Second year the problem got worse and I witnessed chippers running back and forth just below the overhang of the top step. Third year they breached the block and had a boarding house.

Since then they have gotten into the hot tub insulation and have destroyed both my black eyed susans and my shasta daisy.

Chippers in certain locales can be a nuisance pest that needs to be controlled

[GLAN]

Sorry about those who care more about destructive, disease/flea/tick-carrying rodents than property values, but the bucket/ramp system is the best, most effective. 72 in one week so far. I usually sit on my deck and shoot them with a pellet gun, but my eyes aren't what they used to be, I miss a lot and they are small and fast.

I was told about the bucket system and the first day, it was amazing, whole chipmunk families gone. I move the bucket around the yard and leave it there until no more show up floating.

I am recycling the chipmunks as their carcasses go out to the edge of the property/forest to feed the raccoons so they don't come up to the house - source of fresh meat. Also, no rat traps to empty, no sticky boards that could catch birds, no poison worms or seeds, no sulfur gas, nothing contaminating the carcasses.



what is the bucket ramp system ?.......explain please

[ohiomom]

I found this site because I am having a problem with chipmonks, I read everyones post and well no one stated the obvious. Chipmonks like other rodents can and do cause damage to your home. You can try to humanely rid yourself of them, but if not you have to take action. I have spent the last month moving into a home, I knew the cute little creatures were living under the front porch and figured I would relocate them, then last night as my son was taking a few items from the garage to the house I witnessed a chipmonk run from under the porch and into a hole it had made between the garage and the blacktop driveway. My son investigated this for me, the blacktop came off in his hand and he discovered a maze underneath. It will cost me over $2,000 to have the driveway fixed or rather replaced. I first have to get rid of the rodents or will soon be in the same situation. They burrow, they can burrow and disrupt the very foundation of your house. If they get in your house they will eat your wiring, chew anything they can. I am lucky they have only ruined my driveway and I found the problem before more damage could be done. I will be putting traps all around the house both inside and out to be sure I do not have an interior problem and will be putting harware cloth to block access to under my porch. I can not afford to have pity for their little lives at this point, it is my financial security at risk as I do not know how I will afford this expense.

Before this moment I would have been the first to defend the cute little chipmonks, find a way to relocate them, but not this time, just can not.

[brooks]

what is the bucket ramp system ?.......explain please

Since you asked-

You place a ramp up to a 5 gal bucket about 1/4 filled with water. You can place some bait or not, but the idea is that the rodent (mice, chipmunk, whatever) climbs the ramp, and goes after the bait/water, and drops into the bucket and drowns as it can't climb out of the smooth sided bucket.

It's not pretty, but it works.

And don't go all PETA on me people, I just answered a question.

[nannasc]

Chipmunks have destroyed all the plants I have put out in my yard. They have torn up the insulation under my house & in my attic. They have tunnels all over my yard. They have done thousands of dollars of damage. I used to think they were cute, too. Now, I can no longer afford to think so. They are causing me massive damage to my home and yard. I have had enough. If you were in my shoes, you would also consider the dive board method.

It is no fun to hear them under the house - in the attic, causing havoc. Enough is enough!!

One neighbor has had them literally chew a hole in the side of her house! It is awful. They are no longer cute. I have tried dozens of humane ways to rid myself of the problem, all with little or no results.

Now I am going to be trying out the bucket method.

[stone]

As far as taking live chipmunks somewhere else and dumping them, where I live, if the same laws apply to chipmunks that apply to squirrels, doing so is illegal.


And rightly so...
Please don't bring your nusiance animals out to the country and dump them off on me!

I am recycling the chipmunks as their carcasses go out to the edge of the property/forest to feed the raccoons so they don't come up to the house - source of fresh meat.

What?
You don't want to be attracting raccoons... Those things are worse than the rodents.

You know, there are people that feed grain to the deer in the mistaken belief that they can appease them, and get them to leave their flowers alone... The truth of the matter is that it's called "baiting". If you feed them, you train them to keep coming to your property.

I haven't tried eating chipmunks, but I've discovered that squirrels taste like duck.
Y'all talking 'bout eatin um, how 'bout some recipes?