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funk_k

CHIPMUNKS - Scourge of Suburbia

funk-k
16 years ago

I am definitely going to try the bucket trap. So far last year we lost several items in our shed to mice and surprisingly the MUNKS! I never realized chipmunks were such pests. They ruined a 15 foot swimming pool and destroyed lots of other irreplaceable items.

They have really started attacking the flower beds this year. I found a huge hole in one of our beds that I thought must belong to a snake of something like that - no such luck as it turns out. I bought a $100 worth of shrubs earlier this year to plant as a screen in our back yard, and the little bastards dug them up and and killed some of them, because we unwittingly put mulch from last year around the plants. We must have unleashed the smell of acorns from last fall that squirrels had buried in the mulch.

They are very smart and organized. They have a whole circuit that they navigate between yards. They go from under one shed or outbuilding to another throughout the day. So the problem is if your neighbor isn't doing anything about the little chipmunk haven they have in their yard, you get stuck with the problem too. We even have 2 dogs that are out in the yard frequently throughout the day, and it doesn't deter them at all - our dogs have even managed to corner and kill one - no deterrent. I noticed someone posted that they feed squirrels and they become territorial, so it's supposed to cut down on the population. I question the logic of that, since squirrels also have very nasty dispositions, and become very bold when fed. I wouldn't think you would want to encourage any type of pest to become COMFORTABLE in your yard.

As for the bucket trap, I will let you know how that goes. I have several ideas in mind...MWUAHHAHAHA!

Comments (5)

  • lionheart_gw (USDA Zone 5A, Eastern NY)
    16 years ago

    Rodents are the scourge of the earth.

    How would you like to have a neighbor who feeds the chipmunks? I have a neighbor, 2 houses away, who puts out peanuts (in the shell) for the squirrels and the chipmunks. I have munk holes all over my yard and am always finding empty peanut shells around.

    I don't know who is more evil -- the crazy neighbor lady or the four-legged vermin.

    The woman is bizarre; she hates the hawk that frequents the area because it kills the squirrels and the chipmunks. She's outside every evening with a bucket of peanuts and other goodies for the "cute" rodents.

    Grrrrrr!

    Good luck with the bucket trap! If only they had a trap like that for lunatic people...

  • megadave1
    16 years ago

    I've found a pretty effective method for catching chipmunks. I've captured 11 in the past 2 days. I fill a 3 gallon water bottle (the kind thats used for a water dispenser). Locate one of their holes. Open the jug and put the open end in the hole. The chipmunks will swim right into the container. It's then your choice to relocate the critter or fill the jug up completely and cap it.

    This method has worked amazingly well.

  • kitova
    16 years ago

    what damage are they doing in your shed and is there a way to plug up holes where they can enter? getting rid of chipmunks will not get rid of any rodent problem in the future if you have points of egress.

    as for your pool, can i ask you if your chipmunks are drowning or defecating in your pool? if so, that would be a problem, and for that i have no solutions..

    however, i never found chipmunks to do much major damage to shrubs. yes they dig around them if you put bonemeal or fishmeal down, but imho they are simply not big enough to dig deep enough to kill even my littlest of perennials. i would say you have some other critter problem, maybe a groundhog..

    and i have to admit, i am one of those neighbors who let their chipmunks live... because smoke bombing (which i let DH do one year) only served to create a vacuum resulting in a population explosion and new holes in the lawn the next year... and because they haven't done much to my property, holes in the lawn being the worst affliction which i am willing to tolerate..

  • in2gardens
    16 years ago

    I have been able to co-exist and garden in harmony with the chipmunks in the rural area we live in Connecticut. But it seems over the last 2 years or so the chipmunks have taken advantage of any prior agreement we had ... when they started to tear up planters on a second floor bedroom deck that changfed things, but last week when i found one digging in a potted plant in our screened in porch that was the last straw! They were no longer cute, they were vermin over running our property.
    Checked out this site (as well as many others) for a solution. And the bucket (with the sunflower seeds) has worked, even thougfh I was sceptical at first. Better yet I may have found a solution to the squirrel intrusion problem (squirrels leaning into the bucket and scoping out seeds) ... instead of placing a board up to the bucket that serves as a diving board for the chipmunks, cover the bucket with a board that has a hole (approx 3"x3") just big enough for a chipmunk but too small for a squirrel. It worked for me! Bagged a chipmunk in first day. And there's no way a squirrel could get to the seeds.

  • Kimmsr
    16 years ago

    And here I always heard that moles were the scourge of suburbia.

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