Chipmunks are adorable. There is no doubt about that. However, they are still rodents and can cause many problems once they have infiltrated your garden. Chipmunks have a nasty habit of carrying diseases that are harmful to humans and animals and need to be controlled.
There are several ways to keep chipmunks out of your garden. The quickest way to remove chipmunks is to utilize a professional service specializing in rodent removal. Alternatively, you could try dissuading chipmunks through homemade solutions like pepper spray or fake predators.
Keeping chipmunks out of your garden could be a costly endeavor. However, there are several methods, both natural and artificial, that you could consider before calling the exterminators.
Let’s discuss the options available to keep chipmunks out of your garden.
5 Ways To Keep Chipmunks Out Of Your Garden Naturally
Most people like animals and don’t want to harm chipmunks if they don’t have to. There are five ways to keep chipmunks out of your garden that don’t involve chemicals and other pesticides. Let’s discuss your options.
Homemade Pepper Spray
You can make pepper spray by using slices of hot chilies like Habanero or Jamaican Hot Chillie Peppers and mixing them with vinegar. Keep the liquid in a spray bottle and spray the mix in and around the perimeter of your garden.
The intense capsaicin found in chilies will naturally deter chipmunks.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is another excellent option to keep chipmunks out of your garden. It is inexpensive and can be bought in most grocery stores.
The strong scent of vinegar puts chipmunks off. It won’t damage your plants or animals should they come into contact with the apple cider vinegar.
Get A Pet
Cats and dogs are significant chipmunk deterrents. Cats are especially effective at hunting rodents. Chipmunks avoid predators and areas that are hostile to them. An active pet patrolling your garden will ensure chipmunks stay away from your plants.
Animal Urine
If you own a pet that isn’t particularly active, consider collecting some of its urine in a spray bottle and spraying it around your plants and your fence.
The natural stench will warn the chipmunk that there might be a potential danger living in your garden, thus keeping them away from your property.
Peppermint Oil
Peppermint oil is another spray-based solution that chipmunks cannot stand the smell of. Try experimenting with various strengths, and cover a large section of your garden in peppermint oil. Your plants and animals won’t be affected, but you will notice a rapid decline in chipmunk sightings.
5 Ways To Keep Chipmunks Out Of Your Garden Artificially
If you cannot acquire the necessary ingredients or don’t feel like adopting a pet, don’t worry. Here are five artificial methods to keep chipmunks out of your garden. Implementing some of these suggestions might require a bit of work and money.
Use Fake Predators
Chipmunks are scared of predators and will do their best to avoid them. Consider buying a few fake predators like rubber snakes or wooden owls and scatter them around your garden. Most chipmunks will retreat deep underground at first sight of potential danger.
Use Baby Powder
Baby powder sprinkled on plants is another excellent artificial solution to your chipmunk problem. Chipmunks cannot stand the taste and smell of baby powder and will avoid any plant covered in it. Once you have successfully deprived them of their food source, they will leave the area to find a more sustainable source of nutrition.
Irish Spring Soap
Irish Spring soap is inexpensive and can be used to deter chipmunks. The soap smells pleasant to us, but it’s absolutely pungent to chipmunks. Use a cheese grater to shave off small from the soap bar and sprinkle it around areas you want to keep chipmunk free.
Install Sprinklers
Every garden could use a set of sprinklers, but did you realize you can use sprinklers strategically to deter chipmunks?
Chipmunks don’t like getting wet or being wet. So activate your sprinklers next time you see a chipmunk running around your garden.
Both the noise and water will chase them far away from your garden.
Install A Fence
Another artificial solution is installing a fence to prevent chipmunks from entering your garden. If you decide to install a fence, you must ensure that the fence is too slick for the chipmunks to climb over and that the gaps in your fence are too small for them to climb through.
3 Ways To Remove Chipmunks Permanently
The following three ways might upset some people. But they are very effective in ridding a garden of a chipmunk infestation. Chipmunks are still rodents at the end of the day and need to be treated as a pest, not a pet.
Hire Professional Exterminators
Consider hiring a professional rodent exterminator company that specializes in chipmunks. These professionals have the knowledge and equipment to deal with chipmunks effectively and in ways that suit your particular disposition.
Use Rodent Traps
If you decide to capture the chipmunks yourself, consider buying and placing rodent traps around your garden. These traps function differently from average mouse traps as they are much bigger and trap the chipmunk alive instead of killing it.
Once the chipmunk has been captured, you can take them away from your garden and release them back into the wild.
Use Bait Boxes
Bait boxes are very effective at killing rodents. They contain strong poisons and should be handled cautiously. Don’t install bait boxes if you have young children or other animals in your garden, as they might accidentally come into contact with the poison inside the bait box or the dead chipmunk after it’s taken the bait.
Final Word
There are several different methods to keep chipmunks out of your garden. The correct solution is up to you and what suits your needs the best. You will find the most effective solution through trial and error, even if it takes several attempts at first.
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Sources
https://www.marthastewart.com/8244424/how-keep-chipmunks-out-garden
https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/gardens/animals-and-wildlife/how-to-keep-chipmunks-out-of-the-garden