How to Get Rid of Chipmunks in Your Yard

Use a combination of control methods to eliminate chipmunks from around your home.

Many homeowners consider chipmunks a nuisance around the yard, because they can be very destructive. If you have chipmunks around, none of the plants or trees in your yard are safe from damage created by the little creatures. They often enter attics and burrow holes under foundations, patios or sidewalks, which makes them a threat for homes as well. Chipmunks can be difficult to remove. This will be an ongoing process, but there are several control methods you can try to deter, remove or kill the chipmunks.

Things You'll Need

• Hardware cloth
• Wire-mesh cage traps
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Peanut butter
• Rat snap traps

Instructions

1. Eliminate their food sources by moving bird feeders away from the house or removing them completely.

2. Cover bulbs in flower beds with hardware cloth, on top of which put a layer of garden soil. This will keep the chipmunks from getting to the flowers. Use hardware cloth to cover openings that the chipmunks use to get access into the house.

3. Trap the chipmunks alive in wire-mesh cage traps. Getting chipmunks into a cage is pretty easy. Chipmunks love sunflower and pumpkin seeds and peanut butter, so use these as bait. Load the trap without setting the trigger for a few days so the chipmunks get comfortable crawling in, then go ahead and set the trap. Once you have one in there, cover the cage with a blanket, move the cage to your car. Find an acceptable, and legal, location far away from your home to release the critter. You will need to do this often. Chipmunks are prolific creatures.

4. Use old fashioned rat traps that snap down on the chipmunks while they eat the bait. Try using peanut butter as a glue on the trap and sunflower seeds attached to the peanut butter. Poisons are not recommended as the chance of killing another critter instead, and the possibility of secondary kills from other animals eating a poisoned chipmunk is too high.

Tips & Warnings

• See if your neighbors are willing to help in their yard too.

• If you have small children and are trying to kill the chipmunks, you may wish to hide your activities from them.

• Keep at it - the chipmunks certainly will.

• Make sure you can legally trap or kill chipmunks in your area before you try to do either.

References

• Ohio State University Extension; The Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) in the Home, Yard, and Garden; Gary Gao, et al.
• Purdue University: Chipmunks