I got chipmunks and declaired war!!!!!

[polkat]

these little buggars are EVERYWHERE in my crawl space ive taken measures outside to keep them OUT but I still hear them. my control measures include two rat traps w peanutbutter a peice of lath KILLED 5 with it, and a BB gun I lost count. Total KILL is around 26 yes 26 not kidding either and there is more how many ? is there and other method other that what i am currently useing, I sit like a sniper and blast away and my wife is FREAKING my kids wont sleep in their room. I would love to have someone pump cynenide in the house and KILL everything. Suggestions PLEASE !!!!!!!!

 

[FELLNORTH]

get yourself a jack russel terrier, tose dogs will take care of rodents in no time.
good luck

 

[Walt41]

Get a couple of outdoor cats, I have three roaming the property that kill everything, even snakes...I don't even know where the cats came from but I like em.

 

[polkat]

I am considering a couple cats; that reinforced that thought thank you

 

[gwiley]

I would love to get a cat but my 4 dogs routinely kill anything with 4 legs on the property that can't outrun them.

One note, some cats are good mousers and others aren't - you might have to try a few before you get an effective one. Once you find a good mouser, there is nothing more effective.

 

[mwrunt]

I had a problem with squirrels at my old shop i lived beside a hazlnut orchard and if monks are any thing like them good luck it will be war and will take you a long time to get rid of them but heres what i did it took me almost a year .
Keep doing what you have been doing
Get a couple cats they will do the ground patrol
Place large smooth plastic disks around any overhead wires leading to your house as they use thse for hiways
Use thin aluminum to cover any holes they are using for access and sttretch it several inches beyound the hole
Make sure all flashing and cornar trim are tightly fittted
Paint any maisonry with marine enamal it fills the pours in the concrete so there claws dont grip it stops them from climbing it
Remove any trees within about 15 feet of your house or atleast the branches if the trees are anywhere closer they will walk out on the branch flex it down and then jump
Industrial rat poisen not the cheap crap u buy at a hardware store go to a farm feed store i used the little blocks they are abou 1.5 in square and have a hole in them so you can run a string through them and stapple gun them to the inside walls of the attic
Think about resideing the bottom 5 feet of your house with somthing really smooth i endedup residing the whole shop with steel roofing.
And for fun frozen paint balls will snap there backs i found pellet guns would wound them but not kill them
I killed hundreds over 8 years with frozen paintballs just watch the neighbours houses i had to sneak over the fence a couple times with a scrub brush and bucket
If i had a tree or ground shot and didnt have to worry about stray arrows i would use my compound bow it would nail them to the tree
And keep up exterior inspections the bastards chew and will make new ways in
I would try to catch them outside before i made any repairs you dont want to box them in. if you find a hole where they are getting in its easy to wait with a paintball gun just dont shoot till they are a foot away from the hole so they dont run back in
If you arre not persistant with everything they will win

Good luck i doubt your infestation was as bad as mine we counted 18 grey squirrels in my back yard at on time not to mention the ones i couldnt see
If you rent tell the landlord to deal with it or justmove or it will make you crazy

 

[HitSquad]

There is most certainly a very large food supply somewhere nearby to support that many chipmunks.
Chipmunks do not forage in winter and depend almost entirely on stored supplies gathered over the the rest of the year. Their metabolism runs at warp speed and they will quickly starve without food. I battle them all summer as they tear up the wife's flowerbeds around the house. I usually get 6-8 every year. I am on a crawl also but the access is from inside only and they do not get in there. Your typical foundation is a minimum of 42'' deep. I don't think they burrow 4' underground, which is what they would have to do to get in down there. I can't exactly throw a cat down there either,if you know what i mean.
If your crawl access is from outside, then the food supply could be from there also, perhaps from a nearby barn or shed where food has either been stored by you or the chipmunks themselves.
Do not kill any snakes you see. They love small rodents and will gobble up as many chipmunks as they can.
They will be mating soon and each one can make 4 more at a time per year. In an easy winter and enough available food, double that. Gestation is about 30 days and the first litter is generaly born sometime in march.
You can trap all you want but another will just take over the dead one's space. To get rid of them completely, you must either cut off the food supply or hire an exterminator, which will require multiple visits. If you have seed producing plants, like sunflowers, get rid of them. If you have nut producing trees on your property, keep them picked up. I have multiple maples that drop those whirlygig things and have seen chipmunks as well as squirrels gather them. Bird feeders are like ringing the dinner bell in summer. I also have black walnut trees but the chipmunks seem to leave those nuts alone.

 

[polkat]

I just put in to take tommrow off going to the building supply and picking up some alm flashing Thats a good idea, I still am looking for their food supply I cannot find any indication where it is and the trees around the house WILL fall, these little buggers how many can their be reall I Killed 26 so far and their still comming I would have thought that I killed a one mile radius around the house I have hever seen so many even in the summer. Please keep up the suggestions it is helping a lot, some things I didnt think of yet so Thank you all. I got percious little angles in the house and I would just die if anything would happen, they are scared to sleep in their room now and that dont make matters any better with the wife !! A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO YOU ALL

 

[mwrunt]

I just put in to take tommrow off going to the building supply and picking up some alm flashing Thats a good idea, I still am looking for their food supply I cannot find any indication where it is and the trees around the house WILL fall, these little buggers how many can their be reall I Killed 26 so far and their still comming I would have thought that I killed a one mile radius around the house I have hever seen so many even in the summer. Please keep up the suggestions it is helping a lot, some things I didnt think of yet so Thank you all. I got percious little angles in the house and I would just die if anything would happen, they are scared to sleep in their room now and that dont make matters any better with the wife !! A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO YOU ALL

o ya make sure you locate the nests if you use poison mom will take the poision to the babes and then the nest will all die together so summer heat will make them stink. on poisoned rodent will dry several will stink
O ya did i mention if u rent just move
if you own do you have a good fire insurence policy

 

[polkat]

I own my home my wife is ready to move out though. I got this house insured really, really good.

 

[gwiley]

I won't use poison for rodent control because:

1. The dogs might eat a poisoned critter
2. Other animals around the house (birds, etc.) might eat a poisoned critter
3. A poisoned critter doesn't usually die in a convenient spot, they like to crawl into a cozy, tight nook to die where I wouldn't be able to extract the carcass.

 

[treeslayer]

I am considering a couple cats; that reinforced that thought thank you

No poison!!! not in a residential setting.

gotta get some mean pu$$y!... my ex wife come to mind, and she's got friends...................

Seriously, get some barn cats, (how they're termed) and don't feed em, a house cat won't cut it. Throw em under the house with a bucket of drinking water, done deal. :hmm3grin2orange:

then reward the cats.
I'm not joking, it will work, seen it done a 100 times.

 

[2dogs]

Watch the training film called Caddyshack. You will have to modify the techniques a bit for chipmunks but the priciples are the same.

 

[HitSquad]

Tell your family they need not worry over any sort of attack if that is a concern they may have.
Chipmunks are deathly afraid of humans and if you can hear them, they most certainly can hear you. I agree the noise must be annoying for you, especially the chirping wich will only increase as mating season approaches, but they will not come anywhere near you when they see you unless you hand feed them over an extended period of time. You have a much greater chance of a mouse climbing in your bed then a chipmunk even trying anything remotely close to that. Tell them to try to relax while you're doing "battle."
As far as the house goes, they can do no more structual damage then perhaps dig under a concrete portch (common hold up for them) so badly it cracks. Be patient, be vigilant and don't let them get the best of you. You will prevail.

 

[Walt41]

No poison!!! not in a residential setting.

gotta get some mean pu$$y!... my ex wife come to mind, and she's got friends...................

Seriously, get some barn cats, (how they're termed) and don't feed em, a house cat won't cut it. Throw em under the house with a bucket of drinking water, done deal. :hmm3grin2orange:

then reward the cats.
I'm not joking, it will work, seen it done a 100 times.

I agree, no poison. check with the local shelter, they usually have some tomcats that you can save from the shot.

 

[polkat]

thank you for the reassurance from these monsters I forwarded it to my wife THANK YOU, I am calling the humane society right now

 

[HitSquad]

I would advise against the cat idea.
In order for a cat to be affective, it would have to be forced to live on chipmunks and water or starve. That in itself is inhumane.
Any cat for this purpose would have to be basicly wild and have claws. (a farm cat)
Any cat you get from the humane society is most likely tame, declawed and will die of starvation. On top of all that, the humane society is not going to give you a cat under those circumstances and your crawl will become a giant kitty litter box to boot. On the other hand, if you want to use a fat,lazy,declawed humane society house cat as a scare tactic only,it might help but it's not a given.

 

[Walt41]

Cats grab squirrels and a rabbit or two as well, look for a larger cat with hooked claws, gently push their claws out with your hand, you will see a difference in some cats, if they try to eat and claw you, that is a good sign!
The "big guy" running around here goes around 18 pounds and likes to bite as well as scratch, gloves needed.
Remember you are not looking for a fat "lap cat"

 

[polkat]

I am not going to get one from the humane sociey, spayed nutered shots ect. the cat idea may get more complicated my 3 year old girls will fall in love with them. crap in the sand box ect ? still open minded of the cat idea though.

 

[mwrunt]

as for the poisons most dehydrate the rodents so if you do find them they are just a flat pile of fir and bones with no flesh. you will only end up with a odor if a nest with babes dies together and even then it wont last long. Most rat poisons actually tin the blood to a point that even the slightest scratch will bleed it out and also softens the tissue so it decays very rapidly.
Maybe keep the poison in your arsenal like most countries keep nukes last resort
Another thing you can try is a water trap take a 5 gallon pale with 8 in of water and suspend a treat above just out of reach so they fall in and drowned. careful with this one though if not planned rite you could just end up feeding them.