I've looked all over for approaches to keep chipmunks away from my stuff. Over the past 5-6 months I have somehow attracted a group that love my front entry. I think they are now conspiring to make me crazier than normal. The little suckers have tunneled under my brick paver walk causing it to cave in, continue to dig next to my foundation tossing dirt onto my mulched bushes, burrowed holes in the middle of a relatively small plot of grass in front of my bushes........ugh.... When I reset the bricks, I put some mortar I had into the sand and that seems to have discouraged the tunneling under the brick walkway. Now there are hole spopping up on the edge of the bricks where the mortar starts. I have dumped water into the holes, gallons and gallons. 10-15 minutes of a heavy stream of my hose and I have no idea where the water goes to. I have tried chili powder, cinnamon into the holes, moth balls.... ammonia. Nothing discourages these varmints. They are not cute. My last ditch effort is to now try the seeds with the walk the plank method. I have put out traps and my best result was a couple of small mice. Aside from a couple of cats or ferrets patrolling the area, any other ideas to keep these rascals away from my yard?

Adopt a terrier of some sort? Initially the mess would be worse: dog digging out its prey, but it might eventually discourage the little brats.

What do you bait your traps with? Here they are particularly fond of peanut butter; feed them and they will come
The rest is up to you.

porkpal said: Adopt a terrier of some sort? Initially the mess would be worse: dog digging out its prey, but it might eventually discourage the little brats.

As someone with a terrier mix and a resident vole, I can say this doesn't work. Yes, the terrier will go nuts to dig out that rodent. But the noise as it barks nonstop while trying to dig it out will annoy everyone for a 10 mile radius. And it will continue all day and night. If your lucky, when the dog is in the house he will relax - but many terriers will go nuts inside the house because they just KNOW that varmint is out there...

And the rodent? It will just dig under foundations, etc, and create more escape routes to evade the terrier.

I have used peanut butter but that did not seem to attract my batch of chipmunks. Mice seem to love it. On the larger traps, several times I think the small mice were able to lick the peanut butter off the trigger so I tied some twine on the trigger and embedded that in the peanut butter with not much better success. I think the little buggers are conspiring to torture me.

I have them too, they are destroying my gardens, and the voles too, I even got cats to no avail. My kitty has been coming in with bites on his legs and I think they are rodents biting him when he is trying to catch them.

I just love how so many people here want to help someone who is having a problem. You are a great group of people. But I also know how hard it is when we/someone disagrees with some advice and steps up to say so. It's hard! No one here, myself included, wants to hurt anyone's feelings. We're all just trying to be helpful.

So I don't have any advice but I have just started seeing chipmunks in my yard this year. So, Back to Chipmunks.

I know you said you tried a lot, but did you try peppermint oil and spraying it where you want them to stay away from? It definitely works to keep them from storing seeds in my air filter compartment in my car, and it's worked to keep squirrels from making a nest under the hood every night when I was in Chicago. I now put it under my hood every spring and fall and that keeps them out. I put some in planters that squirrels decide to start digging in, every year they pick one or two and the peppermint stops them. A lot of animals really don't like the smell, I've even used it to make wasps move elsewhere.

Seems to me I used to use moth balls (last longer) but I think they are probably banned now

Aw - they ARE cute...



(but not when they're collapsing your walkway and doing other damage... Hope you are able to find a solution!)

I sprinkle the stinkiest fabric softener I can find around flowers and such. That seems to works as a pretty good harmless repellent

When I was in Chicago with daily nests being built, I actually used 1 of those dryer bars that Bounce used to make. I still hate them for discontinuing that bar just for that purpose! But the scent from the sheets don't last as long, and I always worried about how I kept them under the hood, if some parts might catch fire however I tried to attach them to the walls. And then I discovered peppermint oil.

But I'm still not happy with Bounce for discontinuing those bars, they'd last for 6 months in the dryer for me.

I tried the peppermint, steel wool, deterrent pellets, etc with the vole, but he just pushed the steel wool out of his holes and continues on with his business. He didn't seem bothered enough by any of the scents to move away.

I think a lot depends on the rodent's alternative living choices. For my vole, there isn't anywhere better than what he has here - so he puts up with the scents, etc.

If you can find a place that would be more desireable for a chipmunk and use the deterrents to help direct them towards that place, you might be successful.

Of course, you could always give them a karaoke machine and let them sing Christmas songs...

I have used peppermint oil in my car. During the spring and winter when the temps are changing I have found acorns and all sorts of stuff in my engine compartment but the peppermint spray sprayed into the wheel wells seems to keep the suckers out. During the season where they are getting into the car I spray it every 3-4 days and that seems to work. I have a nice bed of zinnias coming up and someone likes to munch on the tender buds. Not sure if thats rabbits or my chippies but the fabric softener sprinkled around keeps whoever away from the young plants

No one yet has mentioned the obvious: what do they eat and where do they get it? If you can find that out, you might be able to cut off their food source, they go hungry, they go away.

We had a rat infestation a couple years ago. We'd been feeding birds. The birds spilled seed onto the ground, the rats ate the spilled seed and thrived. We quit using a bird feeder. This last winter and spring I set out rat traps as usual. Didn't catch a single rat. Nor have I seen any sign of them.

Cut off their food supply if you can.

When I use it in my containers to keep squirrels from digging, I just use the straight peppermint oil and put a few drops onto the soil. Repeat if it rains. It doesn't take long before they give up and stop digging, it's not something I have to keep repeating all summer here, thankfully. But it's a cheap and easy enough thing to do if I did have to keep redoing it. I found metal cans with magnets for under the hood of my car now and just use straight peppermint oil onto cotton pads in the cans.

For wasps I mix several droppers with water and use that spray and it makes them move elsewhere. It's really been my go-to for most issues in my area that works.

You might try baiting the traps with sunflower seeds, seems to be the chipmunks' favorite here.
I use Fresh Cab rodent repellent in the engine compartment of the car, it's working so far. Might have to add some peppermint oil just in case.

I put out a walk the plank to a big bucket sort of trap baited with sunflower seeds, and.... all the local squirrels are having a feast. The comments spawned an idea. I have uncontrolled mint growing all around my black berries. I am thinking I can put a bunch of those sprigs and leaves into a food processor with some water an make a decent repellent? Thats my next try. In the front of my house, I can't figure anything they are eating. This has now become a quest

Try it. I'd like to hear the result.

porkpal said: Try it. I'd like to hear the result.

I would, too!