Chipmunks are an adorable, smaller member of the squirrel family. However, if they are creating a mess in your garden and causing problems with their burrows, you are probably keen to find a way to get rid of them.

There are several ways to prevent, deter, and remove chipmunks from your property. These include removing food sources, scaring them, trapping, and of course, hiring wildlife removal experts.

Try implementing multiple deterrent methods at once for the best chance of keeping chipmunks away from your property. The best way to prevent chipmunks from making their burrows in the crawl spaces under your home is to stop them before they make it past the garden. You can do this by following the tips below:

DENY ACCESS AND FOOD

  • Install L-shaped footers along the side of your house and shed. The mesh should go at least a foot below the ground to prevent the chipmunks from burrowing under it.
  • Remove hiding places such as woodpiles from around the house.
  • If you like having flower bulbs in your garden, try planting flowers chipmunks don’t like, such as daffodils and allium. Otherwise, you can plant your flowers in bulb cages.
  • Don’t store food outside; if you must, use airtight containers.  
  • Clean up any uneaten pet food or seed spilled from feeders.

MAKE THE CHIPMUNK FEEL UNSAFE

Chipmunks have many natural predators. You can use this to your advantage by making your yard appear too dangerous for the chipmunk to live in.

  • If you have a predatory pet (such as a cat or a dog), you’re already one step ahead. If they are generally an indoor pet, make sure to let them out for a few hours each day. This allows them to mark their scent in your garden, spelling a warning to any chipmunks coming in.
  • If you don’t have a pet, or it doesn’t seem to deter the chipmunk, you can also try using fake owls. Place a couple in prominent positions around your yard, such as fence posts or in a tree.

TRAPPING CHIPMUNKS

If your prevention/deterrent methods aren’t working, or the chipmunk has already made its home on your property, you may need to consider trapping it. Just check your state laws first.

  1. Ensure the trap is free of human scent and placed within a few feet of the burrow entrance. 
  2. Create a small bait trail into the trap.
  3. Set a bait (like peanut butter) on the trigger.  

Effective chipmunk baits include:

  • Peanut butter
  • Raisins
  • Corn kernels
  • Cereal
  • Pumpkin seeds

Some baits are commercially available; however, chemical baits are poisonous and designed to kill the chipmunk.

If trying to get rid of them yourself becomes too much of a headache, you should call a professional to remove the chipmunks for you.

chipmunk removal

How to Keep Chipmunks Away from Your Property

While chipmunks are adorable, they can cause heavy damage to your property and its surroundings. These little guys like to snack on the plants and greenery around your property, meaning that they can quickly turn from adorable to devastating. Taking precaution for removal is important hence, visit chipmunk-trap.com to learn more about trapping chipmunks in advance. In addition, chipmunks like to dig and build homes underneath the top layer of soil, meaning that there’s a lot of potential damage to yards and soil as well.

With this in mind, it can seem pretty urgent to ensure that chipmunks don’t turn your property into their residence. At Precise Exterminating Service, we understand that many don’t want to have to put these cute little creatures in danger in the future, so it’s important to be proactive. By preventing chipmunks from even arriving on your property, you not only remove any worry about your plants but also about the quality of your yard and the threat of having to remove chipmunks. So, let’s get started!

Understand How Chipmunks Work

You don’t need to understand chipmunk anatomy to understand how to keep them away from your property, although you need to understand why they do what they do. Chipmunks eat your plants because they snack primarily on seeds and plants. These animals dig extensive burrows to shelter from predators above ground. They’ll do this near homes and rocks since they provide tough, external, protection which can’t be beaten. Knowing just these few facts can help make this experience much easier.

Remove Nearby Food Sources

The easiest step to preventing chipmunk infestations is to remove any food source. Getting rid of ground-level bird feeders, extra plants, and more, can help keep chipmunks away. Relocating plants higher or moving food indoors (such as with pets) will also keep food attractors away from chipmunks. By doing this, you’ll be removing one of the biggest reasons why chipmunks will use your property as their home: food.

Make it Hard to Get Into Your Yard

While fences don’t necessarily work too well against chipmunks, utilizing nets and the like can help to make it much harder to get in. Chipmunks are incredibly small, although they’re not small enough to get through thin netting on fences. You can also place rocks or other objects around your yard, although in ways that make it hard to get in, not easier. Remember, chipmunks dig in around tough objects, so it’s important to be careful where you place them.

Place Repellants

While there aren’t many repellents that are confirmed to work against chipmunks, there are several that people swear by. These would include garlic, peppers, mothballs, and ultrasonic devices. Chipmunks are rumored to not like the smell of garlic or spicy foods, so you can theoretically place these by entrances to stink them out. Mothballs are similar, although these are more likely to work. These foul-smelling objects can repel moths and other small animals, so it’s likely to work with chipmunks. 

Ultrasonic devices, on the other hand, are unapproved and most likely don’t work. These are meant to let out such a high-pitched sound that only animals are able to hear it. The issue is, it’s not confirmed, and these animals may just ignore the sound after a while. With all of these repellants though, they’re less guaranteed than putting up a net, for example, which can physically prevent chipmunks from entering. If you plan on using repellants, use it alongside another tactic.

Use Traps or Call the Professionals

The last-ditch effort in any situation is to use traps (cage, not lethal) or call the pros. Using a cage trap, you can attempt to trap and remove chipmunks. According to Ohio state laws, you can remove a chipmunk with a cage trap, as long as it is over 5 miles away and under 24 hours later. This step is oftentimes difficult though, as it’s hard to guess where these animals will leave, and how to handle them safely.

Here at Precise Exterminating Service, we understand that it can be tough and oftentimes ineffective to try to prevent chipmunks from entering your property, so we’ll get to work quickly and efficiently. Our team is ready to answer any questions or requests from you, whether you’re requesting our services or calling for answers. We’re ready to get to work to help you keep chipmunks away from your property or to remove them if they’re already settled. Our team is just a call away!