How to Rid the Yard of a Chipmunk Colony

Cute little chipmunks can quickly ruin your garden.

Although they are cute little critters, once a colony of chipmunks takes over your yard, getting rid of them can be an ongoing process. You can deter them, move them or kill them. Chipmunks love shade and prefer lots of cover, so clearing your yard of shrubs and bushes is a start. Before buying traps, find out if your state laws allow for the release of captured chipmunks. If not, harass them to the point where they move on, and/or kill them as humanely as possible.

Things You'll Need

• An outdoor cat
• Chipmunk traps
• Nylon landscaping cloth
• Mothballs
• 5-gallon buckets
• Planks
• Rat traps

Instructions

1. 

   A hunting cat will encourage chipminks to move.

   Visit an animal shelter and get an outdoor cat. This is one of the best ways to encourage chipmunks to move on to a friendlier environment.

2. 

   Trap the chipmunks and release them into the woods.

   Trap the critters if state laws allow you to release them elsewhere. Buy two or three chipmunk traps. Place the traps in sheltered areas, disengage the triggers and bait the insides with sunflower seeds. Once the chipmunks get used to their free meal, set the triggers late one evening; the following day each trap will have an occupant ready for release into the woods.

3. Bury nylon landscaping cloth in areas where they like to dig; this will deprive them of some of their food sources.

4. 

   Birdfeeders can also feed chipmunks.

   Get rid of your bird feeders as a temporary measure. If you prefer not to, move them out of reach and switch to a bird food that doesn't contain sunflower seeds.

5. Scatter mothballs around your yard and into their holes; although this won't kill them, chipmunks hate the smell of mothballs and it may encourage them to move.

6. 

   Use half-filled buckets to drown chipmunks.

   Place a few 5-gallon buckets half filled with water at strategic locations around your yard. Place a plank on top with one edge on the rim and add another plank to act as a ramp to the feeding platform. Scatter a few sunflower seeds on the ramp and feeding platform and drop a handful into the water; you'll soon be busy scooping out the bodies.

7. 

   Rat traps are an effective way of getting rid of chipmunks.

   Smear peanut butter onto rat trap trigger platforms to act as an adhesive and bait the traps with sunflower seeds. Although this will kill the critters, it's a quicker, more humane method than drowning.

References

• Ask the Exterminator: How to Get Rid of Chipmunks
• Get Rid of Things: How to Get Rid of Chipmunks
• YouTube; Chipmunk Trap; TrapHunt; Dec. 24, 2008