Are you noticing animal feces around the house or in your garden? Do you suspect there’s a chipmunk living in your home? Well, you’re in luck! There’s no better way to identify an unknown pest than by its droppings.
So, what do chipmunk droppings look like? Chipmunk droppings look like tiny 0.4-inch pellets ranging in color from brown to black. The color of their droppings depends mainly on what they’ve been feeding on.
But that’s not everything you need to know about chipmunk droppings. You need to know where to find these droppings, whether they’re dangerous, and if their urine has a specific odor to recognize.
Let’s tackle these points one after the other, shall we?
Where do Chipmunks Poop?
Since chipmunks are prey species, their instincts are to hide their poop—and its odor—from their predators. That’s why it’s relatively rare to see chipmunk poop lying around, as opposed to mice or rat poop. However, it’s not impossible.
Normally, chipmunks choose to poop in a specific spot in their burrows. Meanwhile, if you see their droppings in your basement, for example, they won’t be all over the place. Chipmunks will choose a specific spot in your basement as a toileting site.
In that place, you’ll notice that their droppings are all concentrated in their designated pooping spot.
Is Chipmunk Poop Dangerous?
Like every other wildlife feces, chipmunk poop can be dangerous to you and your pets. Chipmunk poop can carry viral and bacterial diseases that can harm humans and their pets.
These diseases could turn into something fatal to both humans and animals, such as rabies, leptospirosis, tularemia, or hantavirus disease. You could also attract salmonellosis from chipmunk droppings. Although it isn’t particularly fatal, it’s still very common.
So if you ever find rodent poop in your house or yard, don’t go anywhere near it without gloves and a mask. You could catch a disease by only breathing the air surrounding their poop, let alone touching it with your bare hands.
But to be fair, most humans are cautious when it comes to foreign objects. The real problem is when your children or pet finds these droppings. Pets, especially dogs, are naturally curious. They’ll want to sniff, sometimes even lick or nibble, any foreign object—even if it’s poop!
So, to keep your children and pets safe, you need to remove any traces of rodent feces around your house carefully. After cleaning the place thoroughly, you’ll need to find a solution to the source of these feces. Otherwise, they’ll just keep coming back over and over again.
Of course, this goes without saying, but if you suspect that your pet has come in contact with any rodent feces, contact your vet right away so they can guide you on what to do.
How to Clean Chipmunk Poop Safely
First and foremost, you need to use protective gear to keep yourself safe from any serious diseases. You’ll need to wear protective gloves, a face mask, and protective eyewear.
Now that you’re ready to tackle the chipmunk’s poop, you have one of two options to get rid of it:
1 – Pour Water on the Feces
Dry poop can spread airborne diseases everywhere once you move it or pick it up. The moment you touch it, tiny particles will chip off and fly around in the air. These particles might stick to any object in your surrounding and end up in your respiratory system.
To prevent that from happening, spray bleach or a disinfectant over the dry feces until they become 100% wet. Once they’re fully moist and there are no dry patches, gently pick them up, throw them in a trash bag, secure the bag tightly, and dispose of it in the trash or a dumpster.
2 – Torch the Feces
Another option to discard rodent feces safely is to burn it, along with anything else that came in contact with the rodent or its feces. That could be towels, bed linens, clothes, rugs…etc.
That way, you ensure removing any traces of their poop without risking anyone’s safety and attracting a harmful disease.
Of course, this option can’t be applied to every rodent feces situation. Some houses don’t have the option where they could safely torch the feces or any contaminated objects. In that case, they’re better off applying the first option.
That’s all you need to know about chipmunk poop, but what about their pee?
Does Chipmunk Urine Smell?
Chipmunk urine, similar to any other rodent urine, has a strong ammonia scent that leaves a lingering odor in your house. It’s not as strong as a cat’s urine, but it’s much more pungent than a dog’s urine.
Similar to their feces, chipmunk urine carries many disease-causing bacteria. One of these bacteria is salmonella, which can cause gastrointestinal issues—and sometimes even joint pain.
Another example of a fatal disease-causing virus hiding in chipmunk urine is Hantavirus, which severely affects our lungs, causing Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. If left untreated, HPS could cause some serious complications that may lead to death.
How to Clean Chipmunk Urine
Just like cleaning chipmunk droppings, you’ll need to prepare your protective gear, including rubber protective gloves, a face mask, and protective eyewear, before touching anything.
Next, you’ll need to spray their urine with bleach or a strong disinfectant and leave it for 5 minutes to disinfect the urine. After 5 minutes, wipe the urine and dispose of any towels you used in cleaning up.
To finish up, mop your floor with a disinfectant and clean your rubber gloves thoroughly before taking them off.
To clean up any urine-stained towels or bed sheets, wash them on the highest possible heat with strong detergents to ensure killing any harmful bacteria. However, if you’re able to throw them away and replace them, that could be much safer for you and your family.
Final Thoughts
If you notice any rodent fecal material and urine stains at home or lying around in your garden, you need to get rid of it safely right away. These droppings could be a dangerous health hazard to you, your family, and your pets.
Additionally, if chipmunks, or any other rodents, have urinated over your pillows, bed sheets, towels, clothes, or any other textiles, throw them away. You might not be able to fully clean these textiles if they’re soaked in urine. So keeping them is just not worth the risk.
And last, but most definitely not least, you need to solve your rodent problem from its roots and exterminate any chipmunks, mice, or rats in your house.
Otherwise, you’ll have to go through the whole cleaning process multiple times so long as the chipmunks are still living in your home.
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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