Ken, I would be very careful about trapping (and killing) chipmunks - they act very much like rodents, to be sure (I hate them because there are so many of them, their chirping makes me crazy, and they flattened a part of my perennial garden two years ago because it was in the path they used to get from the wood pile on the side of the house where they liked to hang out, across the patio where I like to hang out, to the bird feeder in the middle of the yard where they like to scavenge for dropped seed. When I went to the hardware store to find something to use to get rid of them, they warned me that it's against the law to kill chipmunks. And, I've read that they have amazing "homing" abilities, and you can catch them live and move them, but unless you move them 10 miles away or further, they will find their way home (not sure how anybody knows that). I finally "managed" my problem simply by moving the feeder, so the path between it and the wood pile didn't go through the perennials or across the patio. Never really thought they were eating any of the plants, but really tramping down the mulch and the soil to the point where it became as hard as concrete, and the flowers there were not doing well! Good luck with them - not particularly harmful, I don't think, but not a great thing to have around when there are as many of them as I had in my yard!

The roots of my perennials were definitely eaten. They were completely gone in the spring several years ago. Large clumps of iris and other plants over 15 years old were just gone. Whether they were eaten by the excessively numerous chipmunks or by voles using the same tunnels, I can't be sure. Yesterday, the Boston Globe had an article about a RI scientist who specializes in Lyme disease. To my surprise, he said chipmunks carry the infested ticks that transmit Lyme. As do, of course, the white-footed mouse and deer, both of which I also have in quantity. I have used every home remedy to get rid of these critters and failed. The Lyme disease news cinched it. Tomorrow, I have a wildlife trapper coming to try to deal with it. He said it would take awhile but I'll let you know if I have any success.

Over the last few months I have had some serious damage done to my yard, landscaping, and sidewalks by chipmunks which seem to be "dividing and growing" daily. At first I thought the one or two I saw was "cute"--even feeding them a couple peanuts. Boy, was I stupid. I tried to dissuade the chipmunks by repellent powders, letting my indoor cats roam the backyard, and filling their holes but as everyone already knows none of that works. Meanwhile I am having hundreds of dollars of flowers uprooted and/or eaten, holes dug everywhere, and undermining of my garden edging and walkways. I bought two Havahart 0745 traps (from Amazon) and within 15 minutes of unboxing them had a chipmunk trapped. My initial plan was to "relocate" the chipmunks, but with experts saying you need to move them anywhere from 2, 5 or even 20 miles away, I quickly realized that with the large number of chips I'm dealing with that it would be a logistical nightmare (and probably not very nice to the homeowners in the new area) to try and relocate them. Like Alice, I too believe that drowning is a cruel way to exterminate even vermin/pest animals. This is why I bought the Havaharts and didn't use the bucket of water method. I won't go so far as to call someone mentally disturbed if they do so, but I will certainly call that person ignorant (not utilizing a more humane method of extermination or realizing the panic and suffering the animal goes through) and callous for being able to stomach the thought of an animal desperately struggling for air. So rather than dumping the chip off in someone else's yard, I immediately ran out to the local big box store and purchased a pellet gun--you can get a decent quality rifle for less than $60 most places. I came home, loaded a single lead pellet, aimed between the bars of the havahart and performed an instant and humane extermination. If one lives "in the city", you can buy a air-powered pistol instead of a rifle, making it less conspicuous. They are practically silent, relatively inexpensive, and readily available. Lastly, drowning animals (even vermin) IS considered by most local laws to be inhumane and cruel. See below for an interesting story of a man in NJ that was arrested, charged, and fined for animal cruelty for live-trapping squirrels and drowning them in the cage. More interesting? He was turned into police by his wife. Even more interesting? This particular link is from Field and Stream--a hunting enthusiast site. Read the article comments, though...even among hunters Drowning is considering cruel by most and even "sick" by some. Here is a link that might be useful: Man fined for drowning squirrels

I posted early (curtisshops - March 18th) with a photo of the damage the chipmunks were doing to my vehicles. Not only is it a fire hazard, it cost me $600 to totally dismantle the HVAC unit and clean out their nests (and a couple that died in there.) I have been using have a heart traps, but lately the munks get in and eat the peanut stuck down with peanut butter and leave w/o springing the trap they are so light, so my catch rate keeps falling and falling. I finally resorted to a rat zapper, several brands available to look at on Amazon, or wherever, and it is working! Photo is my 4th kill in 2 weeks. With lots of voltage, it is pretty much instant numbing and clean kill, notice the rigidity, spares you and the animal the drowning routine. I think I may have found the best option for us living as remote as we do, even more humane than a cat. I love the wildlife that we share with out here, and have 100's of chipmunks and lots of other critters on the ranch, they are incredible breeders, but I just need them to stay back a couple hundred feet away from the house and vehicles and not do damage. I'm ordering a couple more units for around our compound.