Andrew, Don't give in, you can beat these midget chipmunks. I'd bring out the 1/4 inch galvanized hardware cloth. Cover the entire structure and bury the edges if needed. They're going to have to grow a lot to chew thru that.

Good luck!!

Station a cat next to the planter

well you have the PVC structure set...just go to local home improvement store and look at the various chicken wire, poultry netting, galvanized mesh and pick what you like. nothing plastic or cloth, only metal wire

Forget all the repellents. HUGE waste of time, effort and $$. Fruitnut has it right - hardware cloth. Period. I had the same exact issue with roof rats and ground squirrels. I planted my blueberries in large raised pots along with a new Prime Jim blackberry cane. Came out the next day, 2 ENTIRE blueberry plants completely eaten to the ground, and the lovely blackberry cane that was nicely sprouting stripped back to the cane. Up went hardware cloth cylinders and I now have pest-free blueberries and blackberries. Now, I am also able to poison them, which is keeping the population at bay, but it was the hardware cloth that allowed the plants to grow. We also have to sink these contraptions into the ground as well, to deter gophers, which will dig underneath and come up and do the same amount of damage.

Patty S.

Hardware cloth comes in 2' or 3' widths around here (HD/Lowes). If I use a 2' width and have a portion bent out (flat) at the bottom and then out at the top will they climb up and over or be deterred?

The amount of effort (and expense) to tack multiple 2/3 foot widths on a 5'x 5' x 5' structure to support 3 blueberry plants is staggering. I'm almost already at the point of ripping them out and putting in flowers .

Andrew

I suspect they will scramble right up and over. I would make a simple box, then top it with a "lid". You can use metal stakes at the four corners and the bend the hardware cloth around the metal stakes (lengths of rebar or the green coated plant stakes at Lowes/HD should work). I feel your pain, Andrew, sigh... Fortunately for me, the ground squirrels, roof rats, gophers and rabbits are all considered pests, so I can use poison bait stations and Macabee or Black Box gopher traps to keep the population in check. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to grow a thing without having an entirely enclosed garden.

Patty S.

I live in what would be chipmunk heaven were it not for my almond baited rat traps that send the scoundrels straight to hell. They invariably move into my blueberry house because I thought 1" chicken wire was adequate but they easily squeeze through it. I suppose I should border the thing with the rat wire but it really isn't that difficult trapping them out each year and I feel I'm serving the balance of things by killing a few. They get very pesky when populations are too high.

Try convincing a 6 and 8 year old (and a 'green' wife) that sending chipmunks to heaven is a good thing.

Perhaps I can rent a wild cat (know anybody with one to lend ).

Andrew

Hman,

Are you using a whole raw almond for bait? Like with a Victor rat trap? How are you securing the almond to the pan?

I've been using peanut butter but some are starting to avoid that bait.

I'm not sure if this works. Fake owl may work according to some of the reviews on Amazon. I'm debating if I should get it for my blackberries and other fruit trees.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dalen OW6 Gardeneer 16-Inch Molded Owl

I use whole almonds. I use the traps sold by Gemplers that are black plastic and have a well for the bait station where I squeeze in a whole almond and a piece of an almond to hold them in place. Never had a problem with chipmunks avoiding it. It takes much longer for ants to consume the bait than if I used PB. I trap out my voles the same way, but with smaller traps.

If I'm trapping rodents where a bird might get to the bait I set some kind of box over the traps.

I use a rat trap with a piece of apple, I get one about every 12 hours

Cats. Outdoor cats. maybe two or 3. don't feed them much (important!). problem solved.

(I have 35 acres, 4 outdoor cats, a couple of hundred trees, and I've never had a tree killed by voles or the garden plants molested. I see the cats out hunting almost every day, even in winter. I think the life expectancy of a small rodent on my place is about 5 minutes.)

I agree with Harvestman. Whatever rat trap you can find at your local hardware store. And then some whole almonds that you'd get a the grocery store. Works for me. -Glenn

I've been using peanut butter as glue and birdseed or dried corn kernels as the bait. As far as the traps go, I much prefer the plastic reusable ones that are sort of like a giant clothespin to the metal and wood flat ones.

Alvin, Theodore, and Simon won't know what hit them.

You guys are really using almonds to lure chipmunks? They'll eat "lesser" fare -- get a pound of really cheap birdseed mix out of the bulk bin at the pet, feed, or general merchandise store for about $0.35, a jar of the cheapest peanut butter you can find (store brand is still $1 here for 16 ounce jar), and eat the almonds yourselves!

Oh, and FWIW, chickens LOVE dead chipmunks. Who knew they were so carnivorous? You just have to "start" it for them with a shovel, I guess the skin is tough.

andy,
Perhaps your kids and 'green' wife need an introduction to the cold, hard, facts of life.
1. Chipmunks, squirrels, groundhogs, deer, raccoons are not endangered species.
2. They do not understand the concept of 'sharing'; they'll take every piece of fruit/berry - regardless of whether it's even ripe yet - and won't leave any for you.
3. Live-trapping and relocating is frowned upon by wildlife biologists around the world - and by the folks whom you 'gift' with your 'problem' animals. Termination of depredating wildlife is the answer.

For those of you dealing with vermin a bit larger than andy's chipmunks, check out what the KSU folks are doing for squirrel control - may need to scroll down the page at the linked blog.

Here is a link that might be useful: Northern Pecan Blog

I live an hour from NYC and cost of living is so high squandering a few almonds to trap chipmunks is unimportant, but I suppose you could squeeze in some sunflower seeds the same way. Ants will remove PB here in about a day.

I haven't had any ant problems with my traps, they are mostly set in my greenhouse and a few outside around it. Ironically, I woke up 3 or 4 days ago to find hundreds of black, tiny ants making a trail in my bathroom from under the baseboard behind the door, around the perimeter of the room, up the side of the vanity, and to the bar of soap in the dish next to the sink. Took care of that, got rid of the bar soap and put out a dispenser of liquid hand soap, and put a couple of "Grants Kills Ants" poison bait packs under the towel storage rack. Didn't see any today.

Well, if you use almonds, I guess they go to Heaven happy little rodents.