Chipmunks are always on the look-out for two things: food, and places to hide that food. They spend spring and summer stockpiling nuts, berries, seeds, and other foods in various stashes around their territory. When they’re not stockpiling, chipmunks are industrious populators who have two litters of 2-5 baby chipmunks per summer.
Chipmunks are common across the United States, but they might be particularly common around your home. If your yard has the food and shelter they need, they’ll keep coming back year after year. We’ll cover what attracts these chattering critters along with strategies for deterring chipmunks. When they become too much for your yard or garden, the pros at Varment Guard are ready to step in.
What is a Chipmunk?
Chipmunks are small rodents in the Sciuridae, or squirrel family. There are 25 species and all except the Siberian chipmunk, are native to North America. Different chipmunk species live in a wide variety of different environments, from wooded areas to deserts. The most common chipmunk in the US is the eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatusa). Eastern chipmunks are 5 to 6” inches long with light tan fur and a white underbelly. Adult eastern chipmunks have long black-and-white stripes running down their backs.
Eastern chipmunks have adapted to living near humans. They live in urban and suburban environments and dig surprisingly elaborate burrows near food sources. They may also move into pre-existing burrows or other forms of natural shelter such as tree hollows. Chipmunks are famous for their “chubby” cheeks, which can inflate to disproportionate sizes to store food. They use these cheeks to collect food before bringing it to caches they set up throughout their home territories.
Chipmunk Behavior
Like squirrels, chipmunks never truly hibernate. Consequently, they have to fatten up as much as possible to survive winter. Anything they can’t eat right away, they’ll collect in their cheeks and carry to nearby hidden caches. During winter, chipmunks will only leave their warm nests in order to retrieve food from these caches. If you see these rodents running around your yard, they’re probably searching for food.
It might sound surprising, given their rambunctious behavior, but chipmunks are also highly cautious in nature. They have to watch out for predators and other scavengers, who might steal from their stashes. In order to stay safe, these rodents like to live and forage around natural cover and shelter. They look for tall grasses, shade, underbrush, bushes, logs, or any other hiding places. Chipmunks build their burrows or nests and their stashes in covered, inaccessible areas.
What Do Chipmunks Eat?
As opportunistic, scavenging herbivores, chipmunks are far from picky eaters. They’re particularly attracted to any food sources that are small or compact and easy to transport quickly. The diet of a chipmunk in your neighborhood might include:
- Nuts
- Acorns
- Flowers and flower bulbs
- Berries
- Bird seed
- Fruits
- Mushrooms
- Bird eggs
If chipmunks seem prevalent around your home, it’s probably because they’ve found a reliable food source. They will exploit bird feeders, flower beds, pet food, or garbage cans. They’ll return to a food source as many times as they can to supply their hidden caches. If you have fruit trees, berry bushes, seed-producing trees, or other easy food sources nearby, you may be inadvertently attracting and feeding chipmunks and other rodents.
Remember, chipmunks like to feel safe while they’re eating or foraging. The easier it is to sneak around your yard, the more comfortable the pesky rodents will feel raiding the nearby food sources.
How Do I Get Rid of Chipmunks?
First, restrict chipmunk’s access to any unnatural, easy-to-remove food sources:
- Clean up fallen seed around your bird feeder
- Bring seed bags and pet food inside your garage or home
- Secure your trash at night to keep chipmunks from sneaking inside
- Fence off flower and vegetable gardens
Then, look for more natural food sources and nesting areas try to restrict those, as well:
- Mow your lawn frequently to limit hiding places
- Pick up fallen fruit frequently before it begins to rot
- Trim your bushes before they grow too long
- Seal holes in trees, sheds and porches
- Fill in burrows and ground holes
- Fence off hiding places like beneath a porch or deck
By reducing food sources and limiting hiding places, you create a strong chipmunk deterrent around your property. However, you may want to consider a wildlife control specialist like Varment Guard. We have a proven track record of excluding and removing nuisance pests like chipmunks. We identify ways to rodent-proof your property and use live traps to relocate existing chipmunks.
Schedule Chipmunk Pest Control for Your Property
Keeping chipmunks away from your home can feel like an uphill battle. Let the experts at Varment Guard manage the frontline against chipmunk infestations and other wildlife pest issues. Contact Varment Guard and schedule your free estimate today. Our experts can remove chipmunks from your property quickly and humanely.
