Deterring Chipmunk With Barriers

Once a plant vulnerable to chippie attack is in the ground, cover it with a piece of screening or fencing. Ordinary window screen or fence with a mesh of up to 1 by 2 inches will suffice. Place the screening on top of the plant, securing it with stones. The plant may be slightly squashed but will recover in a few days. On bigger plants place the screen flat on the ground around the base (fencing which is heavier , may not need to be secured). The screening discourages the chipmunks from coming near the plant. Leave it in place for about a week, until your scent dissipates and the plant has established itself.

Aggravating Chipmunk With Repellents

Repel the Chipmunk by Bad Taste –
The ones that work on rabbits should work on chipmunks

Repel the Chipmunk by Bad Smell
Remembering that the chipmunk will bother our bulbs and new plantings as much because they detect the human smell and consider it an invasion of its territory. Recent research suggests that spraying bulbs with anti-transpirant spray in some way masks the human scent on them and the chipmunk overlooks them.

Another way to mask that smell is to add another smell that will repel the critters. Garlic Barrier is a repellent made up mostly of garlic juice. If you spray your bulbs and the roots of new plantings vulnerable to chippies with this spray, you are likely to have few problems.

Shake Away 8004520 20 ounces Chipmunk Repellent Fox Urine Granules
by Shake Away

Shake-Away repellent granules have an odor that signals danger to all pest critters and are less messy than liquid. Patented formula won't burn plants, bushes or trees. Heavy granules won't wash away in rain - and they're naturally moist for better "cling." Granules last longer, smell stronger, and won't evaporate or freeze like liquid. Shake-Away uses the strongest force in nature to get rid of your problem animal... instinctive fear. Shake-Away contains the scent of your animals most feared predator. Easy to apply granules can be shaken right from the container to the ground. Makes no mess. 100% Organic and safe. Does not harm the animal you are repelling. Guaranteed protection for small gardens, flower beds & yards. This formula is designed to repel the following animals: Chipmunks, Gophers, Groundhogs, Porcupines, Possums, Rabbits, Skunks, Squirrels, and Woodchucks. The 20oz container will put down a line of protection up to 600 feet long. Applying as instructed, this container will protect an area up to 20 by 30 feet for a month.

Repel the Chipmunk with a Burning Sensation
Hot Pepperwax

Repel the Chipmunk With Models of Predators
The owl is a predator of chipmunk

Repel the Chipmunk With A Pet Dog or Cat
If you have a pet dog or cat that is allowed to hang out outside during the day, you are likely to see few chipmunks. Both animals, especially the males, will “mark” their territory with a smelling liquid that every chipmunk will avoid. While a cat might sometimes catch a chipmunk, the value of the pets is more on the side of simply making the chipmunk nervous enough to go somewhere else.

Chipmunks are not without some courage. One reader’s Siamese cat started with good intentions until the first chipmunk stopped and fought back. She hasn’t bothered one for 10 years. That is why we recommend trying a number of different repelling tactics to be successful in causing the chipmunk population to go down.

Trap the Chipmunk to Dispatch It

Traps are about the only effective control for chipmunks. Use a 5x5x15 inch box trap that is baited with peanuts or other nut meats. The HavAHart trap is very good. One reader caught 35 in one summer using this trap. Just throw some peanuts in the back, behind the trigger and wait for the sound of the front closing. Keep the trap in the shade, particularly if you are working during the day. The heat from the sun pounding on the metal trap all day can do one of these critters in and that would be cruel. Experts tell us we should not release them in the woods because there is already a colony of wild chipmunks there and these could bring disease and a shortage of food to the resident chippies. Please be advised the box trap is a humane way of catching any wild animal. However, the point of catching a critter is not to transport the critter to a new area. The trap is designed to kill the animal after it is caught in a humane manner. If you find this procedure to be something you do not wish to do, it is perfectly okay. Your recourse is to find another way of controlling the chipmunks in your yard, or maybe learning to live with them.

Fumigate the Chipmunk in its Hole

Since chipmunks live in the same burrow for several years they are vulnerable to killing them with gas. You can try fumigating the Chipmunks first. Injecting poisonous smoke into the tunnels may kill the pests where they sit or drive them out to be killed on the surface. In either case, the smoke will reveal all the tunnel exits, when you can seal off quickly.

The Exhaust Method: This requires a gasoline powered mower or tiller. Obtain a length of flexible metal exhaust hose from an auto supply store. Make sure it is of sufficient diameter to fit your motor’s exhaust pipe. Start your motor. Expose a main tunnel and insert one end of the hose into it, then tamp soil around it to seal it. Then apply a few drops of oil just inside the other end, put on gloves, and affix this to the motor’s hot exhaust pipe. Allow the motor to idle for 15 to 30 minutes. Quickly seal any tunnel openings that allow smoke to escape. The carbon monoxide should kill any Chipmunks trapped below.

The Flare Method: A simpler method is to open the tunnel and shove a lighted highway flare into the hole, then seal all the entrances as above. The noxious sulfur fumes will drive the Chipmunks into the open, where they can be killed with a shovel.

Commercial gas cartridges or “bombs” are also available Some of these are toxic, some are not. Read the package labels carefully. Some of these fumigants, such as highly toxic aluminum phosphide, are best left to professional pest control experts. In any case, never fumigate soil in areas that lie close to occupied buildings, as the poisonous gases may seep into the basement or crawl spaces.