The water trick totally works - I got rid of my chipmunk nemesis earlier this week (and one of his mouse buddies to boot). I think it's less mean than poisons or those glue traps.

Hey you two! (utdeedee & daria)

For some reason, I'm being overrun with these little devils this year, too. Sure, they're cute bouncing all around, but enough is enough already!

Help me out here. I only vaguely remember the bucket trick, with the seeds floating, etc. I'd appreciate your refreshing my memory with full details on how to set this up, and how to encourage them to climb and go for a "swim". ~grin~

TIA.

Hal

Here you go Hal

Last year I was trying the rat traps with little success when I read here about using a 5 gallon bucket chipmunk swimming pool. I have had much better luck with this method. Whenever I feel that I am being overrun with chipmunks this method works quickly. I average 4 chipmunks a day and once got 8 in a day.
The swimming pool is a five gallon bucket half full of water with the surface covered in sunflower seeds (they float). There is a diving board that is a 1 by 6 board that has some seeds sprinkled on it. The chipmunk eats the seeds on the board gets to the end and dives into the sunflower seed. Unfortunately he can't swim. I don't mind the holes in the flower beds as much as the tunnels dug around my foundation and under my concrete walks

ole dawg,

Thanks! I gotta try that. I thought that was the method, but not sure. However, do you ever get any of your little birds getting confused and jumping into the "seed pool" along with the pesky chipmunks. I certainly don't want to harm them.

Hal

Hal, I don't know, but most birds can swim and will flop around and wet their feathers and then jump out. Besides, I think that they will not fall for the "walk the plank" thingum. LOL

Hal, I don't know, but most birds can swim and will flop around and wet their feathers and then jump out. Besides, I think that they will not fall for the "walk the plank" thingum. LOL

Well all I have a 4 gallon bucket with sunflower seeds floating on top and plank up to with seeds sprinkled on it. Put it out Friday evening, today is Monday and nothing! I've checked and couldn't belive it. I sat it amongst all the holes in my front yard. Even the seeds are still on the plank! I checked it this morning and still nothing but I left it. I have a feelings their down there laughing at me :) but I've had it with them. I feel like Wiley Coyote... :0

Hmm, maybe it needs to be more cryptic. Mine was in the corner of the yard near the brush pile where the chipmunk lived. I put it next to our compost pile, which is enclosed by pallets. I put the "plank" board right against the pallet, so the chipmunk could easily climb up - I thought the slippery bucket might make it tough to climb up to the plank. I also put some seeds on the pallet "rungs" to further tempt him (just a few, so that he'd be drawn to climb up into the bucket).

After I caught my chipmunk and mouse, I reset the trap. I think that birds took the seeds from the plank, but the only animal in the trap the second time was a slug.

Keep your fingers crossed for me - I have now replanted zucchini and cukes for the THIRD time. I sure hope they have the chance to come up this time, and I get some harvest - maybe frost will be late in central Maine this year. Mr. Chipmunk is cute stuffing his cheeks, but not with those expensive seeds, and not at the expense of homemade pickles!

daria, good luck with the zuchini and cukes. I had to plant yellow squash twice. Something ate the seed but left the others. Wish you were close I could give you all the zuchini you could possible do away with. :)

I' going to move my bucket this evening to another location and see if I get anything. Thanks for the tips.

Ha ha, thanks! Worst case scenario I can always go to the farmer's market, anyway. :)

Good luck to you, too!

I may have to try this. I'm gonna need to do something myself with our little "cuties". I have one digging a deep tunnel right at the base of my Hibiscus. I keep adding dirt so it doesn't dry out & it's moved aside the next day. They kept digging at my Delphinium enough until it did die. I keep finding new holes & see them running from downspout to downspout too. Little buggers!!

Well the water with the ramp and sun flower seeds did not work, except to catch a big black bird, yuck! So, I did the awfully thing, I bought ammonia and have been pouring it in the holes. Done this for a week now and have found no new holes and haven't seen any thing of the *cuties* so maybe it's run them off....I guess to only come back....:)

Every spring we mourn the sad delivery of a handful of chipmunk corpses (partial ones) at the paws of our excellent hunting cat. Neighbor cats help out as well.

You need: (1) to feed your own cat less
(2) to add a new and younger cat to your household but--very important--one who has been raised by a hunting mother cat who had to hunt to eat.

We were--hold onto your hats--FEEDING the cute little chipmunks sunflower hearts and even piling the seeds by their holes because they were so cute! (No lawn; just a naturalistic landscape; no veggies) Then came a stray mother cat who we saw killing our chipmunks to feed her kitten as she started weaning him. Adopted mother and kitten. Voila!! End of chipmunk problem.

I have resorted to thinking of getting a younger cat, our cat is 11 years old and doesn't hunt like he use to. I have stopped feeding him as much cat food and he has gone on the prowel more. I've not found any new 'holes' and I have not saw any of the vermin cuties lately. :)

I tried the "dive&die" bucket. Complete failure because my CT munks would hang by their back legs, stretch their bodies and gobble the seeds from the water. Angry, but it was way tooo funny to watch. Anyway, after many attempts at altering the "dive&die", I gave up and ordered RAT ZAPPER ULTRA. Worth every penny!! During the day, chipmunks (avg 2 day), night, mice. The device is humane as critters don't know what hit'em AND it's clean and easy to discard the bodies without having to touch them..... When the light blinks RED, just dump'em and bury. I look forward to the light blinking red.... dark side of me, I guess. After having these munks with racing stripes eat my expensive plants, they had to go! You can buy right from mfg or ebay.... got mine on ebay.

alyceskis, haven't heard of that device. I will check it out as I still have C.M. from h*!@. When leaving for work today I saw one sitting outside one of one of the 15 or so holes eatting on something. Breakfast I guess :) Thanks!

Ah well, at least you get to TRY to exterminate them. My hubby is feeding them because "they are sooooooooooo cute." When I point out all of the holes and tunnels he just laughs and walks around singing in falsetto "I'm Chip, I'm Dale..."

He is absolutely in love with squirrels and chipmunks. I was so glad NOT to have squirrels here..but my trees have now matured enough to attract them. The bunnies are bad enough but at least I can fence them out!

I may need to just set up the bucket and murder a few on the sly without telling him. I'm already notorious at the house for my brutal murder of a vole with my garden rake. [gives an evil grin and wags her eyebrows a bit]. This spring when I was raking back the chickweed a vole went scurrying and I gave it a whack with the garden rake, successful in breaking its back but not killing it. It let out a scream and I yelled back at it "shut up" and hit it again until quiet was restored.

Then I went looking for its relatives.

I tell that story to my son's girlfriend quite often. I have NO idea why I do that...

:-)

Will the Rat Zapper Ultra get grey squirrels? They destroy my plants constantly. What do you bait it with?