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Chipmunk burrow?

Vladi
10 years ago

I just discovered this morning what appear to be a chipmunk burrow inside my fenced 4' x 8' bed that is housing 6 tomato plants and a couple of sweet peppers. Should I be worrying about them stealing / damaging my plants? Thanks.

Comments (10)

  • spicymeatball
    10 years ago

    I've had wasps burrow in my garden a few times. Their holes are huge. Pretty scary looking creatures too.

  • northernmn
    10 years ago

    It is hard to tell the diameter of the hole from the picture. If it is about one inch in diameter, it may be a vole. If the hole is more like 2" in diameter, chipmunk. Would help to know your state and zone.

    Voles eat plants. Chipmunks eat fruit and vegies. Both are easily trapped. Mouse trap for vole. Rat trap for chipmunk.

  • Vladi
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hi - just confirmed diameter - 2" and I am in MA.
    , so chipmunk it is.
    I wonder if I leave it as is how they're able to reach hanging tomatoes or peppers? Even if they stand on their rear legs fruits would be too high of their reach. Are there other options besides traps?

  • sunnibel7 Md 7
    10 years ago

    They climb. There are live traps you can use and relocate them, but you have to take them a bit of a way or they come back. Preferably somewhere that doesn't look like someone else's yard. Then there is poison, but having posoined rodents around can lead to posoining things that you don't want to posoin, like a neighbor's pet or wild hawk, or anything that might eat the dying/dead animal. Then there are ultrasonic devices that are supposed to scare them away, some say they work, some say they don't. Probably it depends on how determined the little guy is to stay. Sometimes with voles I just dig out and collapse their tunnels back a foot or so and they will move to more protected areas and out of the garden. Sometimes I just have to trap them. Good luck!

  • edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
    10 years ago

    I could be wrong, but in years past I've had 'munks by the gazillions near my garden and they never bothered it.

  • northernmn
    10 years ago

    Chipmunks are great little climbers. I've watched them climb up and strip cherry tomatoes as they ripen. Bigger tomatoes they just took bites out of.

    If you are uneasy about trapping them with a rat trap (the quick humane kill), just keep an eye open for damage. Not just the flowers, fruits and vegies. Tunneling under sidewalks, gnawing into garages, etc.

    Over the years I have discovered all rodents will eventually cause problems. I now eliminate them as soon as they arrive. I used to be one of those people that let them ruin something 1st and then react. No more.

  • Vladi
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Great responses - thx!
    I am going to try and soak a cloth in repellent (bobcat urine) and stick it as deep in a hole as possible and see if it at least drives him away from inside the fenced garden bed. If that doesn't t help then trap it is!

  • robeb
    10 years ago

    The different urines don't work at all. Go ahead & try, you're just wasting your money.

  • drewbym
    10 years ago

    I agree with robeb. Best thing you can do is eliminate the critter now and not waste any money or time on trying to get it to leave.

  • potterhead2
    10 years ago

    About four years ago I grew a sun gold tomato in my home garden. I usually only plant tomatoes in my community garden plot. Well, as summer progressed I wondered why I was getting so few cherry tomaotes to harvest - until I saw a chipmunk up in the branches carrying them off! I used to think chipmunks were cute. Now it's off with their heads!

    That year we had a very high number of chipmunks (the year before had a huge number of acorns come off our oak trees). They had burrows all over the yard, under the decks, in the retaining walls. You couldn't open the door without seeing some run for cover.

    I used a "Rat Zapper" to get rid of more than a dozen chipmunks in about a week. I also noticed a red tailed hawk a lot. Then that fall there were scarce acorns, so we had far fewer chipmunks for a while.

    The population has come back somewhat this year, I may have to get the Zapper out of retirement.

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