Are you sure it's chipmonks - my lilies (when I don't get out the Liquid Fence fast enough) get cropped by deer and rabbits. I've only known chipmonks to occasionally dig around and nibble the smaller bulblets or go for the fallen bulbils from Tiger Lilies. If they've really been chewed down and the growth tip is gone, they're done for the season.

Speaking of chipmonks... last year I had a bumper crop of them but this year I've only seen one. And I recognize this one by a little variation in one of his stripes. Wonder if I have a resident predator, like a weasel, that I'm not aware of.

One thing I did discover two years ago with chipmonks, if I leave water for them they leave my plants alone. A little plastic tray left on my patio was all it took. It's kind of a concession to living with wildlife. Not everyone would go for that idea, but it's worked for me without attracting any other critters.

I have had chipmunks in my yard for years and I have never had a problem. I know it's a chipmunk because it has been bringing the stems and leaves into it's hole. I think that it may be building a nest. You mentioned something about a liquid fence. What is that?

Liquid Fence is a commercial spray repellent that I've found particularly good against deer and rabbits; and that's what it's labeled for. Against chipmonks, I have some doubts of its effectiveness. Rotten egg smell when it's wet but undetectable to humans once it quickly dries. The theory is it confuses the animal's olfactories and "trains" them to stay away. Holds up through rains, etc. but a periodic respray a time or two throughout the season is recommended. A lot of posters don't like it simply because of the momentary smell, but I figure saving my garden is worth a few seconds of a bad smell. Available just about everywhere - Home Depot, Menard's, Lowes, garden centers, but considerably cheaper at the big box stores. And there are other brands, Plantskydd is supposed to be very good also - but again primarily to deter deer and rabbits.

In other years I've noticed that my nest building chipmonks will go for the shredded leaves and debris that falls from my arbor vitae, etc. along the chipmonk's run. Maybe you're being victimized by your yard being too clean and no other suitable material can be found.

Have also heard that cheap, really smelly carpet deodorizer works against nibbling creatures too and I am going to try that on some annuals once the weather levels off and I can get them into the ground.

I also use chicken wire or the cheap plastic mesh around a few prized plants as an extra precaution - that's been a help and both seem to disappear into the background.

If you plany Marigolds around the edhe of your garden, plant very thick so there's no spaces. the critters will stay away. Chipmunks, rabbits, porcupines hate the smell of Marigolds.

"Chipmunks, rabbits, porcupines hate the smell of Marigolds."

Though there are always exceptions. LOL Years back when my dad still had a garden, he used to always plant marigolds for that very reason. One summer we happened to notice a bunny sitting outside of the garden. He was munching on a marigold. :)

Marigolds and animals: Another View

Marigolds and insects:

• Myth: Planting marigolds in the vegetable garden will repel insects.
  Fact: Some research shows marigolds have an effect on certain soil-dwelling nematode populations. Some species of marigolds release compounds from their roots, which can be toxic to some of the microscopic worm-like organisms that destroy the root systems of plants. This seems to occur only if you plant a solid, dense area of marigolds and allow them to grow for about two months. They are then chopped down and the roots and cuttings turned under (best in the fall). Visible results can take up to four months to appear if the right combinations of marigold and nematode species are used.

Chipmunk Cure (it's what I use and it doesn't bother my conscience at all. They die instantly and painlessly -- not like snap traps that might catch a paw, or poisons that cause internal bleeding. I can't have them here because they tunnel under my hostas. They don't eat the hostas, but removing the soil from their roots in this secret way kills them just as dead. And when I had a dog, the sight of them sent her into a frenzy  a garden-destroying frenzy!)

Liquid Fence Some folks on the Hosta Forum here swear by this stuff.

Where do you buy "Chipmunk Cure"? Is it a granuel, liquid, seeds, what?
Tina

try doing something different try putting wolf or fox urine near or around your plants it works,

I don't know if it's chipmunks or not...something is digging up my lilies-eating the bulbs and leaving the stems and buds. We have alwyas had lilies and always had chipmunks so I don't know if I can blame them...anybody know what would do this?

I have been able to live and garden in harmony with the chipmunks in the rural area we live in Connecticut. But it seems over the last 2 years or so the chipmunks have taken advantage of any prior agreement we had, getting more and more emboldened. This year when they started to tear up planters in a screened-in porch I became alarmed but when they undermined a sidewalk and a retaining wall that was it. The mason performing the repair work uncovered a munk burrow that ran about 10 feet and almost a foot high, cleanly excavated.

They are no longer cute, they are vermin over running our property, and not only costing serious money for repairs but are creating a hazard as well.

Like many on this thread I too felt guilty about eliminating chipmunks ... but have become increasingly frustrated and desperate when the population exploded and over ran our property and garden areas. Destructive, brazen and invasive is ALL an understatement when I see what these cute little critters have become.

While I feel I need to eliminate them I want to do it as humanely as possible, and since it is illegal to relocate them in the state of CT, the Hav-A-Heart trap presents the dilemma of having to "off them" yourself and watch them die.

I think I have solved the problem ... the RAT ZAPPER. An animal control professional I spoke to (off the record) indicated that "electrocution" is the fastest, most humane and cleanest way to do what has to be done. I bought my first "zapper" and eliminated 21 munks in approximately 10 days. Since then I bought 2 more and now there are almost 50 critters that no longer make their home in the area around my foundation, sidewalks and retaining walls.

Granted the "pool of death" (the bucket) does work, but this is cleaner, more convenient ... no bucket to maintain/seed to replenish. I place a little pile of sunflower seed at the back of the chamber and flip the switch. And location seems to be important. Under shrubs and near visible, active holes seems to be most effective.

Interestingly, an Ohio State University critter/pest management site I visited indicated that 10 chipmunks or more per acre is considered an infestation population. I have caught almost five times that number, so I assume I am dealing with nature being way out of balance, at least as far as the chipmunk population.

If you're getting more and desperate, try the Zapper, it works.

Whatever you do, please don't use ANTIFREEZE. Its cheap ($2 a gal.), effective (kills chipmunks in days), and easy to use (just put some in a saucer). You should spend spend $100 on 3 traps. Traps work very slowly and are nice.

I am glad that you posted this. I am overrun by chipmunks too, and I don'[t have the heart to mouse trap them or poison them. I just ordered that Chipmunk Cure Zapper, and I hope it works. The critters are tunneling up under my porch, and they have tunneled up my new plants. I hate to kill anything, but they are overrunning my gardens!

I purchased a rat zapper and followed the instructions (baiting it for a couple of days and not turning it on). On the second day, the "cute" little buggers ate thru the wires---and I haven't even received the bill yet!!
Now I am trying the bucket of death. Wish me luck because they have completely stripped my hibiscus of all blossoms and buds and have eaten the elephant ears from the stalks up.

jcrenshaw, where are the wires located? Inside or outside the trap? Is it something we could camouflage or cover? Or do you mean the main power cord? I suppose that could be protected too but it wouldnÂt be easy for a long run.

We used to have three cats, and two of them loved chipmunks. Is this a possible solution?

The Rat Zapper has two sizes. I originally bought the first (weaker) blue one. It works well for indoor mice. The other takes larger batteries.

I wouldn't bother with the less strong variety. I need all the 'zap' I can get!

A link that might be useful:

www.amazon.com/Rat-Zapper-Ultra-Rodent-RZU001/dp/B00CM859OA/ref=dp_ob_title_garden

Chipmunks can't swim in a bucket of water for more than a few minutes. I trap them in a Havaheart trap and toss them into a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Sounds terrible but my garden is more precious than those destructive critters...