Chipmunks are one of the commonest rodents that quickly become a severe cause of concern when they set up camp in your yard.
They’re easily confused for squirrels because they are also tiny, hairy, love nuts and acorns, and have tails.
Most of the time, yard owners would often find evidence of their presence. This includes burrows in the lawns, holes around the garage and sheds, damaged flower bulbs, chopped roots of little plants in the garden. Small bite marks found on wooden boards and, in very frustrating cases, cut wires in your car and torn furniture in the house also point to chipmunk infestation.
Look out for these telltale signs if in doubt. They’re swift, and you will often hear them scurrying around but rarely catch a glimpse of them, even if you look carefully.
Well, suppose you see a squirrel-like animal with white stripes across its entire body and a flat tail less hairy than a regular squirrel running around your home.
In that case, you might have a chipmunk problem. And if you do not find a way to get the little rascals to leave your space soon enough, you may be in for big trouble.
This article is here to give you helpful tips on how to get rid of chipmunks.
What Damages can Chipmunks Cause?
The following are some of the damage chipmunks can cause on your property, mostly when they dwell for too long and become pests. They eat up fruits, flower bulbs, and vegetables in the garden and create a huge mess.
Chipmunks are also known to chew on plants’ roots, and so they will uproot plants in your garden and nibble on leaves, nuts, berries, and any of their favorite food found in your garden.
They do a lot of digging or burrowing, messing with ground cover. These caves can be made anywhere, ranging from sidewalks to stairs to foundations, literally, all over the ground. In due time, these caves can affect your building’s structural integrity. You will also have to spend a lot of time covering up chipmunk burrows.
Some people do not find chipmunks or chipmunk burrows disturbing. They find ways to live comfortably with them on their property.
However, for some, chipmunks do turn out to be very problematic pests. They are probably the ones always asking how to get rid of chipmunks on their property.
How to Get Rid of Chipmunks?
When dealing with a chipmunk problem in your yard or house, you can always handle it alone, or you may require the help of pest control guys near your area.
The most important thing is to get rid of the chipmunks in the most humane way possible to avoid damages to your garden and other essential items in your house and yard.
Get rid of potential shelter and food: This may be one of the most effective ways of preventing a chipmunk infestation in the first place. If your yard is not conducive to their habitation and feeding, the chipmunk wouldn’t need to come in the first place.
You can start by ensuring that your garden or yard is always clean and free of fallen fruits, nuts, birdseed, and anything that a chipmunk loves to eat. Clear all rubbish piles on the ground, wooded areas, and shrubs that provide shelter and keep your bird feeders further away from the house or use bird seeds that chipmunks do not like.
You also want to get rid of possible entry points into your home and yard.
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Use of chipmunk repellents: Even though some say that this is not effective, a good number of people agree that this is a suitable method. You can apply them at home to boost other measures already in place to get rid of chipmunks in the house or yard.
Thus, you can get repellents like Thiram, which can be applied to plant bulbs, bark, or stems from repelling chipmunks. You can also place mothballs (Naphthalene) around the gardens. Some people recommend that you get some hair clippings from the barber’s and spread around the gardens, around corners of the yard, and other areas.
They believe that the intense human scent can keep the chipmunks away. You can also make your chipmunk repellent using 3 ounces of Epsom salt and one teaspoon of Lysol mixed with one gallon of water. It is usually as effective as commercial products for chipmunk control.
While using chipmunk repellents, you must avoid placing them anywhere close to kids or close to edibles. This is because they can be dangerous to humans when ingested.
The chipmunk scent scare: It is funny, but the scent of your yard can be a significant turn-off for chipmunks. Spraying scents like citrus, eucalyptus, peppermint, or cinnamon around your garden or home allow the space to be very uncomfortable for chipmunks. If this becomes too regular, they’ll be forced to find somewhere else to hang out.
Pets!
Yes, you can get the help of your pets when dealing with a chipmunk problem. Pets like cats and dogs are predators for chipmunks, and their presence will surely help in scaring them away because they will always chase and, if possible, kill them.
Chipmunks are usually very quick to escape, but they won’t find your yard or garden as attractive as before. Therefore, to keep chipmunks away, you can let your pets roam outdoors from time to time. Pets outside mean no chipmunk!
Trapping and relocating: You should check out animal control laws and regulations in your area before deciding on trapping. There may be laws against relocating animals in your area. This method involves using baited traps (an excellent bait to use is peanut butter) to catch the chipmunks.
After trapping them, relocate to a place far away from your home. Most people use a live trap. A live trap is a humane way of handling chipmunk infestation even though it may prove tasking in cases of large chipmunk population. Always use a small live trap with small wire mesh that prevents the chipmunk from escaping and using baits that the chipmunks cannot steal from outside the trap (peanut butter).
Inspect the trap often relocate the chipmunks as soon as they’re trapped. If you’re using a snap trap, you should hide them from kids, pets, or areas where you can mistakenly step on them. Keep your traps hidden and secure.
Use chipmunk repellents: You can make use of granular repellents, liquid repellents, or electronic repellents. Granular repellents are usually scattered in different garden areas, between furniture, and in cracks and corners.
You can spray liquid repellents on plant bulbs, bird feeders, into chipmunk holes in the ground and other surfaces while following instructions for proper application and reapplication of the repellents.
Electronic repellents detect the sudden motion of chipmunks. They use sudden bursts of water to scare them away from the area.
They do not employ the use of chemicals, and so they’re very safe to use. They can be placed on pathways, gardens, yards, garbage cans, trees, and flower beds to scare away chipmunks. When used with granular or liquid repellents, you can obtain effective control of chipmunks in your yard, garden, or home.
Do Mothballs Keep Chipmunks Away?
Chipmunks detest the smell of naphthalene, a chemical present in mothballs. If they mistakenly ingest a mothball, they would die. A chipmunk can detect the scent of naphthalene from a far distance, and they tend to stay away from any area or object that remotely smells like it.
You can keep mothballs in the garage, underneath furniture, around the yard or garden, in sheds, garbage cans, mailboxes, and under the stairs where the pest can see and get them.
While using mothballs, it is vital to note that naphthalene is also very poisonous to humans and can cause reactions like nausea, vomiting, and liver problems.
So they must be kept from kids who may mistake them for candy; they should be kept from pets and far from food and any edibles. You should pay close attention to instructions for application and avoid overusing mothballs in poorly ventilated spaces.
Having mothballs in your space will help chipmunk control. It may not be 100% effective in cases of severe chipmunk infestation. In those cases, you may need to apply another method to prevent further damage and get rid of the pest.
Important Things to remember:
Dealing with pests of any kind can take a long while. You have to be able to detect an infestation early enough and start handling the issue on time. Patience is necessary when dealing with a chipmunk problem.
Suppose you’re already experiencing issues with the structure and foundation of your house due to these animals. In that case, you are allowed to lose your patience and seek the best solutions to avert severe chipmunk damage.
The method you chose ( whether traps or repellent) may not work out for you as they have worked out for others. You might achieve successful results. You can switch methods or try many ways at once to get rid of chipmunks, so do not worry about the outcome if one way is not working.
No technique is the best. It would be best if you took whatever step that makes you feel comfortable. Chipmunks are undeniably one of the cutest or best-looking rodents found in our environment.
Chipmunks may not bother you as long as there are just a few of them on your property.
However, like many rodents, a chipmunk can indeed become a problematic pest and can wreak havoc on your garden, yard, and buildings. In this case, you can always use simple methods to get rid of them and get your yard back.
