Chipmunk Repellent?

[joeea]

Our neighborhood has always had a lot of chipmunks, but this year seems the worst by far. They are digging holes everywhere, and undermining portions of some driveways that now need repair.

Anyone have personal experience with repellents that actually work?

I've done a lot of reading and haven't found anything approaching a consensus. I don't want to put out poison or traps that could kill/injure neighbors' cats. I just want to keep them away from our yard.

Anything work effectively for you?

[RAE]

I've had problems with chipmunks in my vegetable garden. In some years, they are out there digging up my pea and bean seeds right after I plant them. That really irritates me! The only remedy I've found is to trap them. I use the small-size Havahart live trap, and it does work. Just bait with a little peanut butter in a spot where you've seen them running around, and you'll start catching them. Then you can either haul them off to a distant spot, or otherwise get rid of them. One caution - do not leave the trap set at night, or you might catch a small skunk, or something else that you don't want to catch. Just set it during daylight hours to catch chipmunks.

[mpeirce]

Do you and/or your neighbors have any bird feeders? That can easily lead to chipmunk population explosions.

We cut back to just winter bird feeding and chipmunks are much less of a problem.

[brewer12345]

Check your local laws concerning trapping wildlife. Mine are insane.

Lead is generally very effective.

[joeea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpeirce Do you and/or your neighbors have any bird feeders? That can easily lead to chipmunk population explosions. We cut back to just winter bird feeding and chipmunks are much less of a problem.

We don't, but unfortunately many of the neighbors like to feed the birdies. The squirrels and chipmunks are getting quite happy and fat.

We have an association meeting tonight. If I can think of a way to bring it up without becoming a neighborhood outcast I will. I'm not sure anyone will change their habits though.

I was hoping for something relatively inexpensive to spray around the perimeter of the gardens/house/driveway. I don't care if they run around in the rocks as long as they don't burrow somewhere that will need to be fixed.

[Gumby]

A large, hungry cat. My first cat, who was indoor-outdoor, was the grim reaper of the local chipmunk population. He would catch one every single day and bring it home to eat on the porch.

[davismills]

We had a terrible problem as well. We got rid of all the bird feeders (particularly the sunflower seed ones) and smoke bombed all the holes.

https://www.truevalue.com/gopher-gas...99&cid=gooshop

I been chipmunk free now for over 18 months. They hate the smoke. I felt like Bill Murray in Caddy Shack too!

[dasranger]

Can’t stand watching chipmunks at the MILs. I sneak a few of these out baited with a single sunflower seed. Within minutes, the munks are hurt’n. I don’t leave them out for fear of a bird getting trapped. Never had a problem with that. Get the rat trap size.
IMG_1254.jpg

[Bamaman]

When I want to rid my home of any critter, I go to BugSpray.com. It is a retail store in Atlanta and the owner has written over 150 tutorials on pest control including bugs and critters. He sells chemicals and traps not commonly found in most places.

And chipmunks are the rodent from hell. I used to think we had snakes with holes in the yard, but the problem is chipmunks. They also love to get into attics.

I have a heavy plastic chipmunk trap with two spring loaded arms inside. The best bait is walnut butter. I think another option is an electric trap. See BugSpray.com

[target2019]

There's an ebb and flow to wildlife population. When you eliminate one critter group, it has some effect on food chain. Other groups (insects, frogs, mole, mice) may grow in number, for example.

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by target2019 There's an ebb and flow to wildlife population. When you eliminate one critter group, it has some effect on food chain. Other groups (insects, frogs, mole, mice) may grow in number, for example.

Definitely true. A bad episode of mange wiped out a lot of the local coyotes. We are in the midst of a multi year Plague of Rabbits.

[tfudtuckerpucker]

For critter control, I have been very happy with various applications of a fence charger. It doesn't injure the animal, but just startles them. They get the message to avoid the area. Just string various wires near the ground in the areas where you have problems.

[Choices]

I have been peppering the holes with cheap black pepper or cayenne from the Dollar tree. Seems to encourage them to go somewhere else.

[Mr._Graybeard]

Here in the upper Midwest we have a native cousin to the chipmunk, the 13-lined ground squirrel. They're a little smaller than a chipmunk but like to burrow in mowed area such as yards. Over time they wear paths in the lawn as they scurry from point to point gathering food. They make great targets for plinking, as they like to pop their heads up out of their burrows like little prairie dogs.

We used to have a handful of ground squirrels living in the backyard, but about 10 years ago a colony of garter snakes moved into the area and the ground squirrels disappeared.

I'd agree with the rat trap. The rodents will have to be killed to get rid of them. In my state, many protected wildlife species can be trapped if they become a nuisance.

[bigcmagor]

Can't contribute on a repellant, but peanut butter in a Havahart rodent trap has yielded 26 so far this year including three today. Sixty seconds in the utility tub is the end of them.

[greydog17]

I used method 2 in this link for several years, after I Learned it from local hardware store... it works well. if you use a good layer of sunflower seeds so it looks like solid surface. I think I got > 30 last yr... some mice too.

https://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Chipmunks

(Squirrels here are too smart though and just hang into bucket by back feet)

[Winemaker]

So far last 4 years, 18 ground hogs, 6 snakes, 12 mice. If 4% withdrawal doesn't work, at least I can provide protein, albeit skanky, slippery, or stingy.

[Choices]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winemaker So far last 4 years, 18 ground hogs, 6 snakes, 12 mice. If 4% withdrawal doesn't work, at least I can provide protein, albeit skanky, slippery, or stingy.

The DH is from LA, I may have a cookbook around that can help you out if the SHTF.

[LuckyDog]

In this rural area, .22 birdshot does the trick...

[SumDay]

This isn't a repellant, but we had skunks digging under our porch and sidewalk, and we installed these up against the edge, then covered with mulch so they aren't visible to us.



They're meant to keep dogs to keep from tunneling out of fenced yards, but the skunks don't seem to be able to get past them either. Just a thought for the driveway issues.


Pet barriers: https://www.wayfair.com/pet/pdp/dig-...-dgdf1001.html