Funny, I just read some articles on chipmunks today. They said their litters are based on the abundance of food. They usually have 3-5 young and if food is plentiful they may have a second litter.

The reason I was reading about them is my yard is loaded with them. I have a pond, pool waterfall and a lot of shrubs with a wooded area in the back of the yard all ideal for chipmunks. We have just spent the last 2 weekends mulching and just about every shrub we mulched around had chipmunk burrows.

We even noticed a white pine that had a Robin's nest in it and a chipmunk stole the eggs out of it. One of the eggs was broken right at the edge of a burrow underneath the white pine.

-Mike

That is so strange that you have many and I have none-I'm in Boonton -where are you?
Last year I had so many I was considering the pond of death-and now this????

I live in Jackson. You know by Six Flags. Ocean County.

Mine just appeared at the bird feeder in the last week - later than usual I think. Maybe it was the long winter. I'm in Morris County.

Maybe one of your neighbors got a cat. I don't have many if there's a cat hunting in the area; I've had noticeably more since my neighbor's cat got too old to hunt.

WW

Boonton is not far from me. Haven't you noticed an increase in Hawks? They are hunting in the yards - squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks...I'd be afraid to leave a small dog unattended.

Ground feed the birds and chipmunks come out of the woodwork.

All our birds are afraid of them, even Red Bellied Woodpecker. Squirrels are only ones not afraid of chipmunks and chase them off...only as far as they're willing to chase them.

Something already raided a Robin's nest and pecked into one of the eggs. Found shell on ground with hole instead of usual cracking as when baby emerges. Since nest about 6.5 feet up assume was another bird.

Suet in double wired "cage within a cage" has been eaten continuously by raccoon which has even come out in broad daylight to get it.

No shortage of chipmunks or any other critters this year when food is put out for birds.

Chipmunks run right past me into garage where we "play" hide and seek until they chirp and run off under bushes or woods.

There's a wandering cat in the neighborhood who saunters up the driveway and just looks at me. I give her directions to the chipmunk, rabbit and groundhog holes but she just ignores me and goes on her way. There's even a red fox that trots through once in a while (gorgeous animal) but don't see any reduction in small critter population.

I'm guessing as long as there are seeds/corn on the ground there will be chipmunks around.

I have a bunch of them where I live