Where are you planning on dumping them? You are transferring your problem onto someone else, so have a plan for that. 10 miles is a minimum. Don't use private property or parklands, that's just rude.

I live in the boonies, but know the frustration. I kill them instead of screwing with other places or people with my problem. Drown buckets, works great. Quicker and safer than most traps- and poison is right out because it often poisons animals other than or as well as the chipmunks.

Taking them to our wooded property 20 mins away. Hickory and walnut trees should make them happy.

But you aren’t answering the question, which is how to catch them! The 2936 edition of the Fannie Farmer cookbook has a good recipe btw.

Havahart traps work great with sunflower seed...they just can’t resist them! But after trapping and releasing ‘many‘ a couple years ago, I found they were almost immediately replaced with new families 🤬🤬🤬

i’d recommend getting a cat...a hungry one!!

You actually drown animals, @beesneeds?

@linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago): Well, animals tend to make their homes nearby a steady food source, so...if you have some oak trees that are starting to die or are encroaching on your roof, but you’ve been on the fence about removing them, perhaps this could be enough to convince you to do the deed? I can’t recommend a particular trap because the time we did have chipmunks in the attic (or was it squirrels?), we hired a professional wildlife relocation company (I think they were called Critter Gitters or something equally amusing.)

Have you been to this website: Do Your Own Pest Control

Linnea,

I have had a similar problem. These traps have worked for me:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MKMLWZB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07331WZ6G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Though the second one is my favorite - because easiest to set, not because more effective - I no longer recommend it because what people are getting has about double the size of mesh now - it's like half an inch. The original quarter inch mesh is great but that's not what they're making these days, in spite of the picture. In the second one of these I got, with the bigger mesh, one mouse got stuck in one of those holes and couldn't get out and died there. Sad. Then a big grey squirrel got in - I swear I didn't leave it untended more than 90 minutes - and absolutely tore the back end out of it, leaving a bloody trail from its efforts.

So right now, given the prices are fairly comparable, I'd go for the first option.

You'll do a lot of driving if you only trap them one by one. I did. Deported at least 3 dozen chipmunks last year (as in your case, they were undermining things, eating any small fruits I had in the yard, burrowing into pots to eat roots of plants, and destroying the tubing of my drip irrigation system in order to get at the water: extreme destruction). Two traps is better. Three is better yet, because maybe you'll actually be able to deport two at a time. Filling all three is rare.

Tips: Don't forget where you set them! They'll be hard to find (and I killed one 'munk by losing the trap even though I walked everywhere).

Disarm them overnight unless you want to catch mice; chipmunks are diurnal.

Best bait EVER on the pressure pad is peanut better.

If you set a trap in the morning check it at least at noon and in the late afternoon/early evening, more if you can, especially if it's a hot afternoon; chipmunks can get dehydrated and die quickly if left trapped for hours and hours, and I don't think that's what you intend. If you can't be home during the day it's better to do some attentive trapping on the weekends; plan on being available for trap-emptying trips, and making this project your focus.

If I caught one but wanted to wait a bit to see if another trap would be triggered soon, I moved that animal into the cool dark garage. That was always a successful strategy. Also, they pee/poop under stress, so set the cage(s) on a sheet of cardboard in the back of the car.

Good luck!

Joan

P.S. Re the re-population of chipmunks: yeah, they come back. We have the habitat they want or they wouldn't be a problem in the first place. (And it's not necessarily dying trees that attract them.) But you don't have to put up with 30-40 in your yard. My damage was much reduced, the chipmunks quit sending my dogs into prey-drive frenzy, I no longer had them staring at me when I came out on the deck, the digging under my garage ceased, and I had far fewer leaks in my drip irrigation. It's just something I have to keep after now, annually, because I finally figured out what was causing all my problems: those "cute" chipmunks.

Oh! One more tip! If you find a burrow, after doing some serious trapping, stuff that sucker up with as much hard stuff and as solidly as you can, so other opportunistic chipmunks don't walk into the move-in-ready burrow. Shove whatever - dirt, sand, steel wool, rocks - as far down as you can, with a dowel or stick.

Also, re relocation distance, I found this at https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081005180949AAcnSxq&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADdTf12httoZPsxfCxhkvlpaufkIGc2vkrLs7569OJuZ_RfYgi-M36wZwvB-GkyHPP8dCy0_j09cDgDh847-ZUEcru6DR1gMcKab3545PT-oDWkjWtm3S_FedvCY16MCzudCo6MpajXPhiau5I2brHak7LMjhgYzST-d_5yIduWL

"Their home range size is generally about 1/2 an acre for an eastern chipmunk (only 50 feet or so around the burrow is defended territory) or up to 9 acres for a least chipmunk. Dispersal distance (distance they are willing/able to travel) is generally assumed to be equivalent to home range size. They are so small that they would lose a lot of weight if they tried (unless there just happened to be a ton of good food along the way). It won't guarantee you won't see another chipmunk, but if you take this one. . . an arbitrary distance really, 5 miles or more, it's not likely to be back."

I agree. Other sites say 2-3 miles is enough, which I think would be especially true for the eastern chipmunk, which is what I have.

I seldom took any of mine more than 4 miles away; and there are places within two miles that are gorgeous 'munk habitat, with wetlands next to woods, what could be better. So it depends a lot on where you're taking them to. I always pick places with a water supply, but I can do that because I live in lake/wetland and woods country, interspersed with farms.

Though chipmunks are always around, that doesn't mean that the ones I deported came back. It just means, well, they breed almost like rabbits. I've kept them mostly out of the yard this year, but I live across the road from 5 acres of woods and another 10 acres of being-reforested ex-farmland. Every time I walk my dog over there (I own it, no worries) I hear their warning cries. It's just part of where I live, which doesn't mean I'm going to give in to their taking up residence in the yard. Woods, fine. Yard, not fine.

Good luck, Linnea.

Joan

I used the small animal trap with fine mesh also and took him to some woods about 10 minutes away. The cat (Bear) had gotten the other one and I was giving him a chance at life-chipmunks are cute but destructive. I used peanutbutter with sunflower seeds mixed in for their last meal. I have also relocated and released baby rabbits the cat brought home. I don't want them in the yard but hate to find their remains on the door mat. Now if Bear would just catch the moles I would do handsprings!

Sammy, the food source in my yard is probably neighbor's bird feeders. The trees we have here (in this suburban yard) do not produce nuts or acorns.

Garden Ho, my present cat is indoor only. Too unsafe outdoors. Coyotes and cars, among other things. The neighbor's HUGE cat patrols. But if he's catching anything, I have not seen it.

I was asked if I drown the chipmunks. No, I don't. I use water kill traps rather than other forms of kill traps. Or using poison. I do know people that do utilize trapping and drowning or trapping and shooting too, or plink them out... and have yard/barn cats to kill them too. Relocating isn't an option out where we live.

I don't want to derail this thread further with kill traps. The OP has thankfully made it clear they do indeed have a distance away for release that isn't going to become a burden to that place, and the willingness to do live trapping and transport.

A chipmunk or a community of them undermining a patio paver and retaining wall? I'm skeptical.

Maybe you need to read a little more, Joseph, or perhaps actually view, or even just imagine, the damage. It's real. And I've seen the cute little monsters physically running in and out.

You must understand that it's not just their narrow little tunnels that cause the damage, but the fact that the concatenation of those intricate tunnels and "rooms" - and they do kick out an amazing amount of soil, I have quite a pile of sand at the corner of my garage slab to exhibit as evidence if you really need the visual - when eventually water gets in there and moves the remnants of soil/sand/whatever under the slab around, subsidence will necessarily occur. That corner of my garage's concrete slab will no longer be supported. Even if, once it's all leveled by, say, 1", that's an inch of structural failure under part of my garage.

Are you getting the picture yet? I hope so.

It's a serious concern.

Joan

We've already lost 2/3 of our native birds. Shame on anyone recommending cats.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/photograph-captures-hundreds-animals-killed-house-cats-180975918/

I didn't really want to say this, because Lillian was asking re traps and asked not to be dragged into other issues. But I really wanted to say this! NO CATS OUTDOORS. Okay, I said it. Signing off.

Joan

I can echo Joans experience...I have a cement area off of my deck that they have tunnelled under causing it to crack and cave in in areas. This is not pavers...it is large thick cement slabs!

They may be small but they are VERY destructive!!

Well, since Joan has informed us that it’s too late in the year to relocate these little guys without dire (to them) consequences, I guess now the focus shifts to damage control. Assuming they’re not real deep diggers, you could try to block them from digging underneath patios, walkways, driveways, etc. by burying hardware cloth or metal edging right around the edges of said elements. Since this method works for keeping escape-artist dogs (yes, beagles, I’m talking to you) from digging out of a fenced-in yard, maybe it’ll work with chipmunks.

We have the have a heart chipmunk trap. It’s much smaller than a squirrel trap. We have caught Alvin, Simon and all the chipmunk brothers X 2!!

Sammy, are you a beagle owner?? :) Gotta love those dogs.

P.S. Chipmunks dig pretty deep, relatively speaking. For their size. And can you imagine cutting and digging hardware cloth in along every landscape element? Me: NO. And I'm a "Master" GARDENER, ha. Been there done that, in lots of conditions. Back-breaking. Oh, one more thing: they don't just burrow under structures. I've recently been attempting to re-establish native Minnesota perennials, including large-flowered trilliums and lesser yellow lady flowers, in my yard as a source of propagation/reintroduction to my native woods, where they have been unnaturally eradicated, and chipmunks have burrowed under in order to eat their roots. So I'm kind of in a war with chipmunks. So far I'm not willing to throw poison at them.

Havahart works I have used them in the past and they worked well. Chipmunks can dig under the hostas and shrubs and even burrow under patios. A few cats in the area have patrolled my yard so the population in my yard is lower than earlier in the year.

Ok, it is a war here. One of the furry rats just ate bunch of my lilies . Have seen chippy couple of days ago. Am not sure on traps but peppermint, garlic and cayenne sprays are coming out.

By the way we put grapes or tomatoes in the trap and monitored them. We were having significant damage to our ac unit, and anything near the unit including getting in the siding. We relocated to a wooded area that is undeveloped.

Several years ago I purchased an "AB Trap" through Amazon. It works great and is easy to set.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013FLER72/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Good Luck.... brp

Here’s an interesting article (well, book excerpt to be more precise) about our friend, the chipmunk. What to do about chipmunks

Sneak peek:

“Chipmunks don’t usually damage property, but they may injure ornamental plants when they harvest fruits and nuts. Occasionally chipmunks dig up and eat spring flowering bulbs and burrow in flower beds or under sidewalks and porches. But there are no documented cases of a chipmunk burrow causing structural damage.”

Joseph and Sammy, the answer is yes, they can undermine stone walkways, patios, etc. Our front flagstone walk has dropped more than three inches over several years. We have holes everywhere in the gardens. I have stopped feeding birds in the hopes they would leave, but I suspect their burrows are extensive and they are quite comfortable. I hate these rodents! I am thinking of dropping a small nuclear device down the holes.

I have to chime in about the cat comment from Jay in Chicago......now I am mad. I am sick and tired of hearing these baseless remarks about how we have lost 2/3 of our native birds and suggesting it is the result of free roaming cats, community cats, cats on the street ...... THEY ARE THERE BECAUSE OF US! Point number one.

Point number two——anyone who is environmentally aware KNOWS that WE are changing the climate of this planet. The temperatures are so high the ice caps are melting, the fires, the hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding are all at epic proportions. So the reasons for bird habitat loss are numerous—-habitat loss due to climate change. Habitat loss because we keep growing as a population without regard for what the planet can support, so then we need bigger houses , more houses, more malls more shopping centers, more grocery stores .......get my point? Every time we expand out AND CUT DOWN NATURAL HABITAT, birds and other animals by the way, lose their homes.

Birds also lose their live lives to many other things, car collisions, crashing into windows on homes and most especially high rise buildings, collisions with airplanes, Wind turbines, lead and pesticides poisoning, predation by many other predators—-dogs, coyotes, wolves, foxes, raccoons other birds such as eagles, osprey, falcons, hawks, merlins, kestrels, buteos, occipiters, circinaes. There’s more, snakes, some PLANTS, even some fish believe it or not——sharks, tigerfish, and more, seals and even some insects.....yes the preying mantis has a taste for humming birds. I'm sure that’s not a comprehensive list, but the best I can do today.

Back to habitat loss, all that logging and cutting down of the natural forests..... do you think that helps birds flourish? NoT only are they losing their homes in and around urban areas where many people feed them and enjoy their antics and beauty, they are more importantly losing their winter nesting grounds for birds that fly south to Central and South America especially. Logging companies, farming and even cattle raisers are cutting and burning the Amazon Rainforest at unprecedented rates. Loss of habitat again!!! These activities are also getting so perilously close to the Indigent peoples who have survived in the forest with no contact from the outside world for hundreds of years until recently...... what will happen to them? They don’t have the antibodies that we do...... they could die from being forced out of their forest homes and into an urban area!!! Jay, apparently this doesn’t worry you...... shame on you for that!

Now, back to community cats......they are called that because “we” humans have thrown them out whenever it’s too inconvenient to keep them.....too expensive, too old or sick, never spayed or neutered them (which should always be done) so now mama cat is pregnant. Oh, don’t want kittens? Just let her out......she can fend for herself, right? Wrong. Domesticated cats are not meant to live outside. They have been cared for and fed and sheltered and that’s all they know. So when “we” throw them out, let them out, lose them and not bother to look for them shame on us! I need to say here I am not FOR outdoor cats, but when they are already there we must deal with them humanely. Believe me, I live in Wisconsin, I know what the cold, lack of food, shelter and water do to cats. It sickens them, starves them and kills them slowly and this is not humane.

The answer to the roaming cat problem is quite simply Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). I have been doing this for over 15 years now. When you neuter the cats and return them to live outside the only life they know, you stop the reproduction cycle. You care for them if they stay in your yard and provide the best shelter you can. Please don’t suggest just killing them, as someone noted above, when you kill the chippies, other chippies just fill in the void because the resources are still there. Same is true for cats......it’s a well-known scientific fact, called the vacuum effect. I am aware I have completely derailed the original poster’s topic and I am sorry, but I just can’t let ignorance go without comment.

For further information on TNR, see Best Friends Animal Society, Alley Cat Allies, ASPCA, HSUS, and many many many other animal organizations including Chicago’s own Tree House. For an excellent blog, lookup VoxFelina by Peter Wolf.

debra

ps. My TNR cats have caught 20-30x more mice than birds. But since they are so well fed they don’t need to hunt anything, period!

Though the second one is my favorite - because easiest to set,

Nothern Gardener after seeing your post I made the order and subsequently took delivery of this trap a week or so ago. Yes, so easy to set and thus far effective ie in that time I have successfully caught 2 mice and a squirrel (I was surprised that it could fit). I am hopng to get those pesky chipmunks and I am now confident it will happen.

(I just saw the posts regarding the time of the year not to use these "humane" traps ie not now :( )

rouge21_gw, do keep an eye on the welds on that trap, the ones that connect the trigger mechanism to the pressure plate. On two of the traps I got like that, the welds failed within six weeks, which renders them useless, especially if you lose the V-shaped piece that's welded to the plate. I lost one and resorted to duct tape for the other; and it's really hard to make the tape stick. Hope they're being better made now (more like the first one I got that had quarter inch mesh and is still going strong), but who knows.