I have learned that trying to shame someone as a means to getting them to reconsider their actions doesn't work. So,..instead I thought I'd ask some good questions: 1) If a neighbor had a dog you didn't like, would throwing the dog in your swimming pool be a reasonable solution? 2) How about someone's cat? 3) Why is it perfectly fine, to drown Chipmunks or any animal? 4) Would you be completely "comfortable", watching a Chipmunk drown? Watching it fight for its life, in total panic, total terror, steadily tiring,...but still trying,...and finally exhausted,...breathes water in,....and finally succumbs. Is that something that causes no anxiety at all? 5) Would you let your 6 year old child watch the Chipmunk drown? 6) Its illegal to drown any animal in many states; there must be a reason,....right? One person in 100 in this country are a Psychopath. I don't think everyone at this site is a Psychopath, but some how, you guys think drowning animals is acceptable. I can't even get my head around drowning animals,..just because its "efficient". Atomic bombs are efficient too, we don't use them for obvious reasons. Well,...now my personal story with Chipmunks. I had one that got injured by a a neighbors cat. So,...I brought him inside, and nursed him back to health. What I would ask everyone to consider,...is that (like people),...an animal you don't know,...is seen in a different light, when you have the chance to "meet them",..and get to know them. As I cared for this Chipmunk,...I made a number of amazing observations. One,...they dream. I watched him make a nest,...and curl up on his side,..and go to sleep. Then I saw,....his muzzle twitching,...his little hands and feet moving....just like a dog. They aren't just "rats with a bushy tail". When he was healthy, I released him in a nice wooded area. And ever since,...my wife and I feed the Chipmunks on our deck,....and its loads of fun, watching them stuff their pouches,...some of them come over to the picture window and stand on their hind feet,..and look inside our house to see if anyone is home. We have had no problems with them,...no garden problems,...no "wires",...no wood problems. Maaaaaybe,...its cuz we offer them something. I've heard campers hang smelly food items a mile away from their camp site so the bears have something to go after. Guys,....why not work WITH NATURE,..instead of against it. Trapping and releasing Squirrels and Chipmunks works,....feeding them has worked for us,...and we've enjoyed watching them. I was even patient enough to sit still on the deck,...with sun flower seed in my hand,...and had a few come eat out of my hand. So,...I wish at least some of you,...would reconsider killing them. There are other ways of dealing with them in most cases. They have a pretty hard life as it is,...snakes,...raptors, Owls, and worst of all cats. If even one person "rethought" the whole thing,...writing this would feel worth it.

Well I don’t see many chipmunks but I know they are very cute. You had 5 of them? And now you have zero. I think it’s rude of the owner of the cat to do nothing about it. As you can see on my profile picture I have a cat and he also Kills birds. In fact, I have saved numerous birds form him. If the lady won’t do anything about it I suggest that whenever your chipmunk goes outside you should go with him/her just to be safe, another option is keep your chipmunk more indoors than outside, yes I know he has to feel the nature but you should get it like some toys or like some nature in your house. The last one is get a large cage and put it outdoors, also make sure the cat can’t squeeze it or stretch the wires of the cage.

Here is my update. The piles of garlic, red pepper, commercial stuff were useless. Within a day the chipmunks dug a hole in the ground beside the new asphalt and started to dig under again. We got some wire and quickset cement and filled it in and an adjoining area of several inches. The next morning, it dug another hole and I put wire in pending getting more cement. At 1:00pm, there was no change. By 2:15, they had dug out two holes in the asphalt, from the top down! Not from the edge! By this time we had been to the hardware store several times to get the wire, the wirecutter, more cement, rocks, etc etc. We filled in those holes with wire and cement, cemented over a couple of feet over top of the asphalt, and once dry covered the area (cement/asphalt/grass) with a length of wire mesh battened down with rocks and whatever was handy. The chief chipmunk kept surveillance for an opportunity to renew the attack, often from under a car parked in the driveway. Last night our neighbour came by asking for a favour. He wanted to know if we had any cement left over - there was a hole in the lawn beside his driveway, poor guy. We always have had chipmunks, but in my area no one seems to have heard of such destructive behaviour. It seems to be a cause for bemusement and even disbelief. While I am sorry that others here have had such problems, it is also nice to have company;). There aren't any outdoor cats on the street, and there are lots of rules about trapping so a live trap seems to be the main option now.

I don't recommend sticky traps but if you have a critter stuck on one, a bucket of water is quicker and IMO less traumatic than freezing. Now, as to how to get critters to leave. I know this works for birds: Not only do you open a door for them to run out, but close all the blinds and curtains and make it the only patch of light. Birds in particular will fly about towards any patch of sky. Block them all off and they will head for the one remaining patch. Someone earlier in the thread had a squirrel coming in the chimney. Doesn't it have a steel damper to close it off? If not, I sure hope you're in a tropical climate where you never run central heating because that's a huge vent for hot air to pour out of the house to be replaced by cold drafts from every possible crack and gap. If you were in a tropical climate you wouldn't have a fireplace.