Not a fan of small rodents. Not because they scare me or anything, I used to raise fancy mice. They ALL tend to be destructive. Field mice won't allow any balloon flowers or relatives in my garden, they will be eaten withing a day (they also eat obedient plant, but only when it's close to flowering). Chipmonks ate every flower head off of my cornflowers. Red squirrels...my grandma used to shoot them on sight, and I understand why! I found one in my potting shed the other day and MAN I was wishing I had her .22 with me when I opened those doors! Instead I made that click click click type noise the grays make and it took off like a shot. I'm sure it'll be back in there. We had damage from them in our house when we bought it, I'd rather not see them around at all. I considered taking out the few pines/spruces around to encourage them to move on, but I have to wonder if they've adapted enough not to care...

cute story...it almost sounds like a commercial..reminds me of the windex blackbird and cat commercials of a few years back. My daughter lives in a townhouse..with a tiny tiny fenced in patio...I think it is like 16 ft by 28 or something to that nature...not a yard really...a plot..a chipmonk got in under her fence, and took up housing in a living plant wall that her dad built her....he would taunt her when she watered that wall..runing out and griping at her....then when they went in..he would climb up on the outside window sill and tease the dogs thru the glass endlessly.....revenge I think for wetting his house. They nicknamed him chip...he was not really friendly, just arnery....he resided with them in his "condo" for just one summer. As entertaining as he was, they were glad when he was gone...they didnt like the dog taunting which resulted in much barking...nor the startled factor when he would pop out of nowhere to gripe at them.

Yes, the tunneling is a real pain. I have one living under a rosebush right now. The holes can damage roots and kill plants. They also come into the veggie garden and make off with whole cherry tomatoes. This is actually better than them chewing bits off the bigger ones and wasting them. I often see tomato seeds and skins scattered along the stone wall where they like to live. I usually find I have enough tomatoes to "share" but hopefully I won't change my mind this year- seems like a bumper crop of chipmunks. I haven't noticed damage to other crops I grow (mainly herbs and peppers).

Christine, I don't personally condone trapping anything. It's unfortunate that it's even in anyone's vocabulary, unless you are a fur trapper...in which case you're about 150 years too late. Some gardeners can be such hypocrites. "I love nature....as long as it obeys my terms." Learn to adapt to and appreciate the native species around you. Anyways, my preaching aside, I have chipmunks and hostas and they coexist peacefully. The chipmunks do burrow in a few places, but that's what chipmunks do. I would be surprised if they are your hosta munchers though. As for the shrews, they have voracious appetites and many also burrow, but I don't know if hostas are on the menu or not. However, they are not rodents (not even closely related) and are actually relatively intelligent species for their size. I say live and let live. Maybe find out which hostas are getting eaten and which aren't and try to figure out why. Or look at it this way. You have apparently created a great wildlife habitat. Good for you.