Critter Control: Chipmunks
These cute, reddish brown little critters are very active as they scamper about your yard and garden. If you look close enough, they almost seem to have a mischievous twinkle in their eyes.
Habitat & Habits
Chipmunks live in underground nests near walls, rock piles or under tree roots or stumps. Their most familiar habit is gathering and burying nuts for the winter.
Bad Points
Despite their cuteness, chipmunks can be destructive as heck in the garden. They unearth everything—squash, cukes and melon seeds, bulbs, and young plants. From there, they daintily sample strawberries, vegetables, bulbs, and tomatoes. They can also wreak havoc under porches, stairs, crawl spaces, etc.
Favorite Foods
Although they are notorious for stealing bulbs and corn seed, they feed mostly on nuts, grains, wild fruits, and berries, and an occasional small bird, mouse, snake, snail or grasshopper.
Controls
Non-Chemical
Try any one or all of the following to get them to leave your yard:
- Fill little cloth bags with dog or cat hair, liberally scatter the same in and around the areas they frequent.
- Place mothballs or flakes in their runs or holes where they enter and exit buildings.
- Dried blood meal makes an excellent repellent in the bulb bed because it also provides essential nutrients for the bulbs.
- Discourage their digging in your beds by placing wire mesh or chicken wire over the bulbs after planting.
- Live trap them (it's easy) using unroasted peanuts, corn, sunflower seed, peanut butter, cereal, rolled oats, and molasses on crackers or whole wheat toast as bait.