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| how harmful are these cute little creatures in the garden
thanks mr toad |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Don't even get me going. They are rats with stripes. I've had them digging tunnels all over the garden, can't ever have any crocus bulbs, they shimmied up all my asiatic and oriental lilies and bit off all the buds, eat all the buds of my crabapples and in general make a mess of things. They reproduce so quickly before I knew it we probably had over 100 in the yard. I couldn't even hear myself think with all the chipping in the yard. I'm not sure if you have a problem with deer ticks and lyme disease down in NC, but chipmunks do carry deer ticks. They are enemy number ONE in my book. Don't let them fool you with their cuteness. |
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| ditto and lol thyme re: rats with stripes! My flagstone walkway is heaving and collapsing in different spots because of the digging underneath. Holes everywhere. I hate them. Can't believe I ever thought they were cute!! |
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| Chipmunks are horrid little creatures and we have a lot of them. One year they ate all my shasta daisy flower centers and left a mess with the petals! W also have marmots here which are like 15 pound chipmunks. Last year they demolished all my newly planted hens and chicks. My little indoor dog watches for them at the patio door and when she goes berserk I run out and yell at them. The ones we have in the hinterland are not endangered altho I've heard the ones on Vancouver Island are. I don't like them in my garden or near the house as they carry ticks and maybe lice, not to mention other parasites they might pass on to my dog. Not great pics but they don't pose well!
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Here is a link that might be useful: marmots
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- Posted by neverenoughflowers 6 SEPA Downingtown (My Page) on Tue, May 24, 11 at 20:37
| We used to have a real problem with them, but my cats have taken care of that problem. Now, if they could only take care of the deer. |
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- Posted by on_greenthumb (My Page) on Tue, May 24, 11 at 23:01
| I have only ever seen one in my yard but then my dogs probably act as a major deterrent. I have heard horror stories though. |
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| I have a different opinion. I have a lot of them and I think they're cute as can be. I have never noticed my bulbs not coming up or plant destruction. Can't help it... I just like all animals. :) |
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- Posted by lavender_lass WA zone 4 (My Page) on Wed, May 25, 11 at 14:00
| Neverenoughflowers- Same here! If only the cats could keep the deer out of the garden :) |
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- Posted by organic_kitten 7 (My Page) on Thu, May 26, 11 at 20:39
| I see neighbor's cats in my yard just about any time I go outside...good. Get those little imps. kay |
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| I live in a residential neighbourhood in basically downtown Toronto. I was very surprised to find two little chipmunks in my garden (I have an ancient fruiting weeping mulberry which has something to do with it) and I take it as a compliment. People who see them walking by are amazed. Yes, they dig tunnels, and I am sure they eat crocuses and so on, but my 3-year-old daughter's excitement at seeing them far more than outweighs the damage. I don't feed them (unless they are getting into my composters from below, which I suspect) but I sure would not dissuade them. Now, if marmots and deer made their way downtown I would feel differently, but I love my chipmunks! |
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| The best thing I have ever done is to get a cat - hardly ever see chipmunks again, only when my cat brings them to the door as "gifts" for us. |
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| I had chipmunks burrow holes through my asphalt driveway in several places. |
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| My friend who lives in an estate home with estate gardens has the darn things running rapid and causing all kinds of havoc. Guess they haven't read the CCR's because they have dug holes and ruts through her perfectly manicured garden and have even chewed and scratched up the pillows on the wicker furniture on the wraparound porch. My Aussie goes out on critter patrol every morning and evening and does a wonderful job keeping them at bay. |
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- Posted by schoolhouse z5/ohio (My Page) on Wed, Jun 13, 12 at 15:21
| "I couldn't even hear myself think with all the chipping in the yard." LOL! I have quite a few this year too, I suspect they consist of parents and their offspring. Hey, I can't resist. I put peanuts out for the little guys. Yes, they tunnel and destroy and I especially get annoyed when they set up housekeeping in my stone walls. AND, I have two cats. I spent today doing the edging and had an apple for lunch as I took a break. I placed the apple core on a stone wall, sat down, looked back like 5min. later and a chipmunk was stuffing his cheeks with apple! He even dragged it away when another came to investigate. |
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| There is a surefire way to get rid of them w/o poison, but I can't post it here because it truly could offend some folks. I do love all animals, but the destruction with the chipmunks is out of control. I'm waiting for my stone walls to collapse some day from all the tunneling they're doing. If anyone is interested you can email me offline and I can fill you in on the method. To give an idea, we were so overrun with them a couple years ago, just in the late summer thru fall we got over 80 of them. That is the quantity we deal with here regularly. Our predators are slackers! |
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- Posted by midnightsmum 4b ON (My Page) on Thu, Jun 14, 12 at 15:42
| I double the advice (or triple, quadruple) about cats. I wonder if you could use fur from a groomer?? My hunter boys loved to hunt them. A chipmunks idea of safety is to freeze statue-like to hide. Cats love that concept. They were never an issue for me, even though I do think they're kinda cute. Now, as to red squirrels, don't get me started. Even the cats couldn't hunt enough to keep the numbers down!! Nancy. |
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| I wish they were "chipMONKS" - then they would eventually die out. Heheheh. That is so cute. I didn't notice it when this thread first appeared. :) |
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- Posted by love_the_yard z9A Jax FL (My Page) on Fri, Jun 15, 12 at 23:59
| I wonder if a cat would do the same thing for the voles (not moles) we get here in Florida? |
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| Chipmunks are cute, but their burrowing can cave in walkways, they nip off seedlings and buds, build nests in my downspouts, and they can get into structures and makes nests. Yellow jackets love to make nests in their abandoned holes. I don't mind a few but if the cat didn't catch some of them they would be running around everywhere. The cat also catches voles! However, she doesn't hunt in the front garden near the sidewalk (too close to the road), so the vole(s) was still wiping out perennials up there this year. So I sprayed with a castor oil/urine mixture that was recommended on the Hosta forum, and it actually worked well. Also, I started using hardware cloth barriers around the roots of their fave perennials - like Echinacea and Salvia Black & Blue, and that works well too. |
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