Fall Chipmunk Invasion

Hello roadapple

Remember these are not cuddly little but crafty rodents, and they need to be kept out, and exterminated if necessary.

After all, if you catch a dozen, what do you intend to do with them?

Some good suggestions are here:

http://forum.doityourself.com/archive/index.php/t-167745.html

http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/pest-control/how-to-get-rid-of-chipmunks/

It does appear that the battle is continual, unless you can persuade a coyote or two to stay at your house.

But then you would have a problem with the relatives of

Kind Regards....

Sparkstation loved the links especially howtogetridofstuff and response from 777 Mute. "Do the dunk" my wife heard me laughing and wanted to know what was so funny. Triple 7's reminds me of the scene in the movie "Never Cry Wolf" which Charles Martin Smith starts eating the lemmings his tent is infested with. You would have to see the movie. As far as bucket trap well I did find a dead chipmunk in our watering can one time and heard of using one to catch mice in a hunting camp. "Do the dunk" love it.

It seems logical that in order to keep them out, remove their ways to get in. Is it possible to enclose or seal up access to your front porch or crevices in the walls? Those critters can fit themselves through an opening less than an inch wide. "Great Stuff" in aerosol cans is the best thing since sliced bread in many cases.

Good start. But finish the job. Mix peanut butter with some Great Stuff. All of the options are good. If Alvin and his friends eat the Great Stuff before it swells up, the munks will stop eating soon. If the chipmunks eat it after it is swollen, but not hard yet, it might stick their lips together. If the stuff hardens before they eat it, at least you can get a laugh watching them try to bite through the foam to get the peanut butter.

Better yet, can you try to train them to drink out of a rabbit water bottle? If you can you can substitute the can of Great Stuff, and get the camera out. Send pictures.

I lean toward a nice dachshund. That should take care of your problem...

When you get past the "without bloodshed" denial phase, Here is what we use since our cat and our jack russel terrier aren't up to the hunt anymore.

http://www.intruderinc.com/mousetrap/mousetrap.html

Actually we use the 'better rodent trap" we have killed 14 so far this summer, vs the cats 3 nd the dogs' 1. We place it along the edge of our patio; Rodents behaviorally are biased toward walking along edges walls etc. We've had our trap 9 years. Someone else can do the math regarding rodent reproduction ratios, we are pleased with it in use.

We have found that no rodent wants to pull steel wool out of holes cracks etc. if you insist on the no bloodshed alternative.

good luck. Thes e vermin are vectors for many diseases and should not be disneyfied nor deified.

milo

Find out what the natural predators of chipmunks are and place plastic replicas in various places around your yard. I suspect one species of Owl or another would be about right, but check with your local wildlife center for information specific to your location.

Good luck getting rid of the 'munks.

/Ari (orpheuse)

Ultrasonics?

Same problem in Palos Park, IL. I trap and transport, which is probably illegal, and I swear they beat me back home even though I take them a mile away. It's like emptying the ocean with a teacup. I still trap but I end up transporting 3 or 4 a day and it's just like the ocean, I trap and take one away and one slips across from next door and takes up residence. The best year I had was once several years ago when a hawk family moved in for the summer. No problem that year but there probably weren't enough chipmunks to keep them fed. Sigh....

Get a couple of cats - chipmunks will be gone quickly.

Del-

Do you have any in-laws who need a place to winter over?

More than likely you'll have to resort to bloodshed if you cannot effectively seal your porch. Cats are a good thought, but depending on your area there may be issues with letting cats run freely. I'd check with local wildlife officials about having a rescued hawk or similar flying predator placed in your area. My parents had a problem with small rodents and magpies in their area. Once a bird of prey was moved in the rodent population was reduced to almost unnoticeable and the magpies left completely.

Rat d-Con. Had them under my shed, took one box and there has been no activity for a couple of months. I wouldn't recommend it if they are in your house.

A never ending battle.

Good Luck

The steel wool hole plug worked for me.

Coarse steel wool...back it up with 1/4" mesh in hole first...thick pads of SW....epoxy into place...if hole big enough a couple/more of dry wall screws will help hold it in place...

Use a lot of SW...the stuff is cheap...put Cayenne pepper/olive oil on it....burns their lips and steel wool scratches the gums if they chew.....drives 'em nuts....'n if they rub their lips...spreads to eyes and ears. = very mad 'monks........

You might want to wear gloves if you put the Cayenne on first.......or use a squirt bottle for after the fact application. Dust again w/pepper after install.

KEEP YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM YOUR EYES

You'll hear a lot of MONKUSSIN WHEN THEY FIRST TANGLE WITH IT........

Good luck,

MR. GUY

I use a live trap here in MN. I bought it at Harbor Freight, best $5 I've spent. I've caught 14 this year. I haven't seen, heard or trapped one for over a month, so I think I took care of them until a new batch moves back in spring.

They seem to really like strawberries for whatever reason. If you catch them and plan to drop them off else-where, you have to go at least 5 miles away! They can and will, find their way back if you don't go this far. Trust me.

This fellow will take care of any little rodent buggers that he encounters.

How about a recording of a rattlesnake rattle? Or a real rattlesnake. Years ago a guy I knew had rattlesnakes, and he let them out when he left home. That way they double as a security system.

Personally, that would never work for me. I'm allergic to snakes. They make me break out in a run.

Hi, roadapple!

(Whew! What a handle! Can't wait to see your avatar!)

While chipmunks are cute little critters, they are not nice little critters. They're carnivorous and carrion eaters, and the latter makes them useful in the woods to help clean up the dead animals. They are also plentiful.

But if they're invading your territory, kill them. I know the animal lovers are going to hate me for this, but believe me, these cute little brown scolding animals with their big eyes and engaging striped and spotted fur are only forest rats. They may look like their more mild-mannered cousins the vegetarian squirrels, but that's where the similarity ends. Since they burrow, you're not going to get rid of them any other way. But if you want to try, stuff lots of moth balls down their holes and set a loud radio playing rock music at all the entrances for about a week. Then stuff the holes up with expanding foam.

Good luck.

Mark

For all that responded to my previous post concerning the chipmunk invasion I really appreciate your help. I ended up catching the "chipmunk" which was actually a red squirrell ! A very smart red squirrel that avoided all my attempts to catch and remove it. Rat traps- tripped the trap took the bait, gopher poison did not touch, and box trap just avoided (I think was caught in box trap before in yard by our son). Winter came and I heard this chewing noise ? Looked in the crawl space and there it was eating black walnuts ! With winter snow I saw the tracks this vermin created when it left it's lair to go outside. I used a Conibear trap that I used to use to trap muskrats and managed to get the varmit the next time it left its lair. I would post a picture, but afraid this would upset some people on CR4. I did keep its tail to hang from my rear view mirror (they are not good to eat- they taste like pine cones).

Thanks for the follow up!

milo

Hi, roadappele!

(Still no avatar, I see! )

My helper is a grand-cousin or something of Jack Daniels the whisky guy. The family's all mountain folks.

His grand-daddy used to take him hunting squirrel, and warned him to not ever bother cooking up a squirrel from a pine forest, because they taste piney.

Well, nobody can say that your squirrel didn't get his 15 minutes of fame before you stopped his shennanigans ! That tail's going to get him a lot more time in the limelight as well.

Anybody know what SparkStation is doing nowadays?

Mark

Kris?... KRIS!.....Where is Kris?

What have you done?

.......I'm busy drawing up a list of names.........