Have you noticed a large number of chipmunk tunnels in your yard lately? This is going to be more than a little annoying, and you likely want to get this to stop as soon as possible.
If you don’t take care of issues like this in a timely fashion, your gardens could get ruined by these little creatures. The first sign of chipmunks that many people notice will be chewed-up plants in the garden, and you’ll want to quickly figure out where the tunnels are.
Chipmunks might be kind of cute, but they are also a bit of a nuisance when it comes down to it. What can you do to get rid of their tunnels for good?
Read on to learn about your best options.
1 – Keep Your Garden Tidy
Chipmunks come to your yard because they are looking for food. If you have lots of plants in your yard, that might be attracting them to the area.
Some plants and trees have berries that will fall to the ground, and chipmunks will want to come to eat them. You can make it less likely that they’ll bother you by simply tidying up your yard.
Try to pick up the fruits and berries that have been falling on the ground. If you go through and tidy the garden up a bit each day, the chipmunks will have far less to try to eat than normal.
Basically, it’s about not making things easy for them. You don’t have to eliminate bushes or trees that produce fruit or berries, but you will need to be a bit more proactive about cleaning the yard up.
2 – Keep Bird Feeders Clean
Bird feeders can act as a beacon to chipmunks that are seeking out food, too. You might want to keep them in your yard so that you can enjoy watching the birds, but chipmunks might come and try to get any food that has been spilled.
To avoid making a chipmunk issue worse, it’s going to be necessary to clean up any spilled food near your bird feeders. If you plan to keep bird feeders in your yard, it’ll be necessary to regularly check the feeders to ensure that the area is clean.
It might even be best to avoid keeping bird feeders on your property if you wish to eliminate your chipmunk problem. This isn’t completely necessary, but you’ll need to take precautions at the very least.
When choosing seed for bird feeders, it’s a good idea to pick a seed that chipmunks don’t particularly like. Thistle seems to be a very good option that they won’t be attracted to.
You should also try to keep your bird feeders at a fair distance from your home. It’s recommended that they should be between 15 and 30 feet away from your house, and you might want to keep them away from your gardens as well.
3 – Use L-Shaped Footers
One of the best ways to keep chipmunks from burrowing in your yard is to make use of L-shaped footers. These L-shaped footers are designed to be placed near the foundation of your home, fences, porches, sidewalks, retaining walls, and other such areas.
These footers can keep chipmunks from being able to burrow properly, and they should do a good job of solving your tunnel issues. If chipmunks aren’t capable of getting around your lawn using a series of tunnels, they might give up and move elsewhere.
Overall, these L-shaped footers have proven to be incredibly useful when you’re battling chipmunk problems. They won’t cost all that much money, and it’s pretty easy to install them where you need them to go.
It’s a good idea to place many L-shaped footers in your yard that will keep them from burrowing. Try to utilize these footers in any places that make sense so they won’t be able to get around like normal.
4 – Get Rid of Old Wood and Rock Piles
Getting rid of old wood and rock piles will be a good idea when you’re trying to deter chipmunks from coming into your yard. You see, chipmunks are going to utilize piles of wood and rocks as hiding places.
If your yard doesn’t have convenient places for chipmunks to hide and hang out, they aren’t going to like it there nearly as much. It’s possible that they might just move on to an area that is better for them.
Aside from using these spots as cover, chipmunks will also sometimes find food near wood or rock piles. You’ll be removing food sources for them by cleaning up your yard as well.
This might take a bit of time to do if you’re living on a large property, but it’s well worth your time. If you wish to get rid of chipmunks, you need to get rid of wood and rock piles in your yard first.
5 – Try Making a Gravel Border
Another strong deterrent method to consider utilizing is a gravel border. Gravel isn’t going to be something that chipmunks want to mess with, and you can put gravel between your garden and the rest of the yard.
Some people go so far as creating a large gravel border around the yard to keep chipmunks at bay. You can use gravel sparingly to get good results, too, but it’s up to you how far you want to go.
At the very least, using gravel barriers for your garden areas will be wise. This will make it tougher for chipmunks to get to your plants, and you’ll likely have less to worry about moving forward.
Gravel is a pretty good deterrent because it works well and you usually don’t have to pay an exorbitant sum of money to get it. Many people also think it adds to the aesthetic appeal of the yard.
6 – Consider Planting Things Chipmunks Don’t Like
There are actually plants that chipmunks don’t like that will work well to keep them away. Both garlic and daffodils will act as natural repellents that can make them turn their noses up at your garden.
Planting several garlic and daffodil plants could make it so that chipmunks won’t come around. If you have room in your garden for some of these plants, they might prove to be a simple solution for you.
This is a really good natural way to keep chipmunks from digging in your yard. When you combine strong ideas like this with the other methods mentioned above, it’s going to be easier than ever to get rid of them.
7 – Try Other Natural Repellents
There are other natural repellents that can keep them from wanting to hang out in your yard. One good idea is to scatter human hair clippings around the yard.
This might seem very strange at first, but it’s actually a brilliant way to scare the chipmunks. Chipmunks are afraid of human scents, and the smell of human hair will be just the thing that will keep them from wanting to come near.
You can ask your barber for some hair clippings to use as a deterrent if you’d like. If you cut your own hair, you could easily just save the clippings and use those to scatter around the yard.
This works a lot better than you would think that it would, and it’s not hard to do. You can just scatter some hair around the garden and yard.
Of course, the hair is eventually going to scatter in the wind, but it will work for a little while. This isn’t the solution to your chipmunk problems, but it can help and become part of your deterrent strategy.
8 – Liquid Chipmunk Repellents
You could try to utilize liquid chipmunk repellents to keep the rodents away as well. Some people choose to buy commercial products that will work to repel rodents, and you can find options that are completely nontoxic.
If you don’t wish to pay for a commercial product, you could make your own. Many people make a repellent using a mixture of water, cayenne pepper, and olive oil.
Whatever route you decide to take is fine, but you’ll need to spray your lawn with the repellent once you have what you need. These repellents do a pretty good job of keeping chipmunks away, but they will wash away in the rain after a certain period of time.
This means that you’ll need to keep spraying the lawn every so often to keep enjoying its effects. It might take some patience to get good results with this method, but it does work.
9 – Dry Chipmunk Repellents
Dry chipmunk repellents are on the market as well, and these can last a bit longer than the liquid options. The idea behind using these is the same as the liquid repellents.
You’re going to be placing the dry repellent in areas of the yard that are likely to see chipmunk activity. If you notice any chipmunk tunnels, you can sprinkle some of this repellent directly in the tunnel openings.
If the chipmunks come into contact with this repellent, they definitely aren’t going to like it. However, it’s good to know that this repellent isn’t lethal to chipmunks, and it shouldn’t cause problems with other animals in the area either.
10 – Electronic Chipmunk Repellents
There are electronic chipmunk repellents on the market that work really well, too. The idea behind this type of repellent is that it keeps them away using special sounds.
Essentially, you’re going to be installing devices in the yard that emit ultrasonic pulses that will scare various types of animals. These types of repellents are popular for keeping many animals away such as rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, and even deer.
These devices are very easy to install, and some of them are even solar-powered. Being able to place these at various points throughout the yard will do a good job of keeping chipmunks away.
You’ll find some other types of electronic repellents on the market that don’t use ultrasonic pulses. For instance, there are some that utilize water to spray animals when they get near.
It’s definitely worth looking into the electronic repellent options on the market when you’re having chipmunk issues. This should help you to manage things easier, and it might be a big part of helping you to solve things.
11 – Trapping Is an Option
Humanely trapping chipmunks is another thing that people consider doing. You can find chipmunk traps that can capture them alive without harming them in any way.
Once a chipmunk has been captured, it’s going to be possible to relocate it. The chipmunk should be driven a fair distance from your home and then released into the wild.
To get this to work properly, you’ll need to use gloves when setting the traps. The human scent will scare them and they will be too wary of the traps.
The best traps are probably the ones that utilize simple one-door tactics. Animals enter the little door to try to get the bait, but they can’t get back out.
You can use several different things as bait if you’d like to, but peanuts actually work brilliantly. It might be good to try peanut butter or sunflower seeds as well.
The only problem with this trapping idea is that it might not be legal in your area. Some places have laws about trapping woodland creatures, and you might not be allowed to relocate animals either.
Before you go any further with this idea, it’s going to be wise to look up the local laws in your area. You want to be sure that you’re doing everything properly to avoid potential consequences.
Be Vigilant
Be vigilant about taking care of your yard and taking the right precautions. You should be able to take care of your chipmunk problem before too long.
Once you understand what you need to do to get good results, it isn’t going to be nearly as hard. You know more about how to take care of the tunnels in your yard now, and you’re going to be able to take the right actions to protect your property.
Ben has a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, you can find him at home with wife and two daughters. Outside of family, He loves grilling and barbequing on his Big Green Egg and Blackstone Griddle, as well as working on projects around the house.
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