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How to Get Rid of Chipmunks
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It’s hard to think violent thoughts against furry little critters like chipmunks. But when your landscaped garden looks like someones idea of a garden shoot-out, it’s time to get down and dirty. When these furry critters have claimed your garden as their playground and blocked your pipes with their fur balls it’s time to get rid of them. Of course, knowing your enemy will give you lots of advantages. But before waging an all-out chipmunk extermination campaign, here’s the lowdown on your furry foes.
Having Chipmunk Problems?
They may look like tree-living squirrels with their tiny noses, puffed cheeks, and bushy tails, but chipmunks are not baby squirrels. Believe it or not, the two are different but related animals. Chipmunks are ground squirrels; they are the burrowing cousins of the larger tree-climbing species. This, of course, explains the pockmarked look of your garden lot. These furry critters dig and build their homes and shelters underground. This is what sets them apart from their tree-loving relatives, which spend most of their time in trees.
Aside from their choice of real estate and relative smallness, chipmunks differ from their cousins by possessing identifying stripes. Chipmunks are distinguished by two broad black stripes that run from the tops of their heads to their rounded rumps. This is the most telltale sign that the critter chewing your spring flower bulb is a chipmunk. That, and the shrill “chip chip” retort they make when you dash out at them with your newspaper in hand.
Approaches to Chipmunk Control
Before deciding on how to get rid of chipmunks, it is important to learn their habits. Chipmunks are mighty eaters. They spend their life eating, foraging, and storing food. What is the key to getting rid of chipmunks? The key is finding out what chipmunks eat. Chipmunks eat anything and everything from grass to your pizza crusts. Their main diet usually includes fungi, plants, nuts, grains, seeds, and the occasional insect. If worse comes to worst, chipmunks are also known to catch small birds and small rodents like shrews though they do not actively look for these hardy protein sources; they are content to search the ground for edible finds. Chipmunks are not born to be climbers, but they have been observed climbing roofs, poles, trees, and bird feeders to gather seeds, acorns and nuts.
Aside from food, chipmunks are also wary of very open spaces, which is not surprising since they live underground. They tend to stay within shaded areas even while looking for food. Their burrows are usually built in the shade of solid matter like a tree stump or your porch. In your bid to eradicate chipmunks, these are two weaknesses you should exploit to put an end to your chipmunk problems.
*Reader Tip* Several readers have had success with the “bucket method.” Here’s the original tip from Jonathan: “You can get a bucket of water and float sunflower seeds at the top. Make a ramp to get to the bucket. It’s a foolproof method: the chipmunk cant get out.”
Getting Rid Of Chipmunks
Now that you know their weaknesses, it’s time to put your knowledge into action. As much as these furry critters wreak havoc in your garden, one can hardly think of shooting them into extinction. There are many other ways to get rid of chipmunks so be creative.
An inexpensive chipmunk control option is to keep a pet. In the urban jungle, cats can be an effective (and fuzzy) weapon against these feisty fur balls. If you’re feeling adventurous, take your pick from badgers, weasels or hawks. These are the natural predators of chipmunks. They stalk their prey in the shade and the poor chipmunk won’t have any idea what happened until it hits the predator’s tummy.
For a less morbid option, live chipmunk traps are effective elimination tools that are sold in most hardware stores. You can get a couple of comfortable size traps and just add seeds, nuts, oats or whatever your chipmunk fancies. Secure the traps in shaded areas or wherever your enemy frequently hangs out. Patience is not even required because where there is food, chipmunks will come. Once trapped, drive to the far side of town and let the critters out. Better yet, drop them off in the nearest national park.
If these don’t work, just give these fur balls a taste of their own medicine. The trick to getting these chipmunks to leave your place willingly is to limit their food supply. You don’t have to strip your garden bare; just spray pepper solution or hot sauce on your plants and the places where your furry friend stays and surely, they’ll move out.
Still, if these tricks don’t work, your chipmunks are a hardy bunch. Just dial pest control and invest in a professional chipmunk extermination program. Now, that’s a foolproof way to get rid of chipmunks.
liz ,
use a wire coat hanger, straighten it out then bend it in half, twist it so the handle is stiff and make a hook out of the two pointy ends,scoop it out and bury it in the garden , great fertilizer.
change the bucket seeds and water periodically cause they will start to sink and stink.use the black seeds they will float for awhile, once in awhile you might get a mouse, same thing applies,tend it every day or every other you’ll get the hang of it after the fist few,don’t forget to put the seeds on the ramp for incentive.
remove the dead one
Alright, I tried everything and was at my wits end, so finally did the bucket. Worked within 5 minutes of setting it up, gross, but worked. My question is will the others from the colony use this same bucket if there is a dead one in there?, or do we have to remove the carcasses everytime one falls in and expires? Any help would be much appreciated.
I was overrun with these guys - they dug along my foundation - holes everywhere and when it rained - you guessed it - those holes were like sewers - the rain just ran down them and into my basement! Then they figured out a way to get into the basement crawl space and finally they got under the floor of my basement - now that’s some digging! So, I used the bucket method (with the help of an exterminator)and it works! We caught 35 of them in a week. I was very skeptical but voila it worked! I was sympathetic to these guys for a while but they have caused me a lot of damage and money. Here little chippy, chippy - time for dinner! Now I have to get them out of the garage.
Wonder how many people that think the bucket dunk is cruel ,but turn around and are for abortion ?????????????? Come on people they are not on the endangered list they are very destructive rodents and if you have seen one there are ten more in the ground.So bite the bullet and do the dunk,
hey that sounds like a dance , do the dunk, do the dunk.
AAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLVVVVVVVVVVVIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNN !!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK!
Simon , Theodore your turn , do the dunk, com on now,do the dunk, its only a plunk , and you wont have to ride anywhere in a trunk,cause I’m tired of all that hole digging junk, just do the dunk, yea just do the dunk!
I am surprised the moth balls didn’t move them , they worked fine for me are you placing them around the house ?
You cant just put one every now and then you have to sprinkle them about a couple of feet apart, the hole way around the perimeter, believe me if done correctly they will leave , also if you know were a hole is they have dug, throw a half dozen down it, under your shed ,deck where ever they hide and dig,I guarantee they will leave, the main thing here is getting them away from the foundation.After that you can deal with them how ever you like .And the rain will eventually take care of the moth balls , don’t forget they will take care of any thing else that would like to invade the house, ants ,mice,termites, all types of bugs,and rodents, this is proven to work just look it up online, and its cheaper than an exterminator.
The bucket works great, if it doesn’t bother you to use it , if you prefer the rat trap that works also the end result is the same, if you prefer a live trap and you can afford the gas each and every time you catch one to run it to the woods , you could be in for a lot of trips back and forth , depending on how many you have to deal with,besides dumping them somewhere may just put someone else in the same situation your in now, how fair is that.
And for all you people that are thinking that its to cruel to kill them,you might think twice once they have a field day on your property and turn it into , one big tunnel ,and invite all the other rodents to take advantage of the under ground road way that leads to your foundation.So just get a bucket and some seed and a wooden ramp or a rat trap and have at it, ………….nuff said !!!
The mothball trick didn’t work for us! They’re still right back in the same places. Live traps are next, and they’ll be on their way to the park! Please, don’t use the bucket method, it is just cruel!
The bucket trick is disgusting! I can’t even imagine someone suggesting that! You are saying that slowly drowning a creature is the way to get rid of a living thing! Come on, there are much more humane ways of ridding your home or garden! Pretty much anything is better than drowning, except maybe separating it’s limbs slowly and letting it die!
The bucket system works well and the little critters die happy eating sunflower seeds. Just fill the bucket with water and stop when there is about 8-9 inches from the top of the bucket. Put enough black sunflower seeds in the water (they will float) to cover the surface. I put out two buckets last night and with in 10 hours I had 15 critters. The chipmunks have caused a flea infestation in my yard and that is bad for my dog!
As I opened the door this morning a chipmunk ran in through the kitchen door. How do I get him out? Unfortunately, we had to leave to go to work (after trying to get him to leave for a while) We closed all surrounding areas to keep him from going to another part of the house but fear that he could still be there because we did not see him leave. Is this chipmunk harmful and what damage can it do?
Thanks, and “help” in a “HURRY”