How to Get Rid of Chipmunks on your Property

Reader Contribution by Elizabeth Gatto
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If you have chipmunks coming onto your land, chances are they are eating from your garden or burrowing in areas that can cause damage to your home and property.  They are attracted by food such as seeds, flower bulbs, fruit, and vegetables and since you take pride in these items on your property, we have some suggestions for how you can prevent chipmunks from making them their next meal. 

The first deterrent we will discuss is a bird decoy.  Large birds overhead will often scare them away, especially owls, hawks, and eagles. So, you may find that you have some success with decoys. These are plastic versions of the animal itself, come in a variety of animal forms and can be placed on the roof. When the chipmunk captures a glimpse of these decoy-predators, they could believe they are about to get hunted and scamper off. What is not so good here is that they will often scamper off back below ground level, which doesn’t really help you to get rid of them at all. Now they’re just underground, waiting for the predator – the decoy – to go away and when they pop up to see if it’s gone, they will burrow back down again.  Therefore, these are not very effective.

The next method is purchasing a wildlife eviction fluid such as raccoon eviction fluid.  It comes in various forms, but in the case of chipmunks, usually contains the urine and other gland secretions of various wildlife that would normally be a predator for the chipmunk. Foxes, coyote, and bobcats are all used for this, and it can have a certain degree of success, but usually only when the chipmunk is female and believes her youngsters are in danger. Again, these creatures are above-ground predators, and all the time the chipmunk is below ground, it is relatively safe.

By far, the most effective solution when it comes to getting rid of chipmunks, as well as a whole host of other nuisance wildlife, is to remove the food that attracted them in the first place. For chipmunks, as well as a raccoons and opossums, it could be a bird feeder. You can easily remove the seeds from your birdfeeder, and see if they move on.  However, if they are going after your flower bulbs or your vegetable garden, you cannot easily dig up your plants and move them indoors. 

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