Chipmunks in gararge??

[JJ]

Help!! I've apparently got Alvin and the Chipmunks nesting in my garage, behind my immovable workbench. Anyway to encourage them to move on, short of getting a cat? I've been leaving the overhead door open but they aren't leaving. Yesterday I had it closed and they attacked the door! It's a fiberglass door with the styrofoam center, and I came home to find a hole the size of a softball from the interior and popcorn stuffing all over the garage.

Any home remedies would be appreciated!

[Joey]

How about one of those supersize mouse traps ? Or, one of those ultrasonic noise plug-ins to keep rodents run off.

J

[Don Wiss]

If there are babies in the nest, and you close off their entrance to the garage, mom will do anything to break back in.

They call them rat traps. They work well. Last summer my parents caught 32 chipmunks. So far this spring they've caught five.

Here is Brooklyn my problem is squirrels digging up the window boxes. I'm now putting chicken wire over all the dirt. I know one fellow here that traps the squirrels and then takes them up to the park. He has a car to transport them in. I'd have to carry the cages covered with a cloth and hope no one figures out what I'm doing.

Don (e-mail link at home page bottom).

[m Ransley]

Throw around mothballs or put them in a sock so you can remove them easily, Amonia will drive out anything.

[Steve B]

Make a trap out of a five gallon bucket with about six inches of water in it. A couple of strips of metal hooked up to a fence shocker works good. Make one strip a ground, and the other a little higher with the peanut butter on it. When they make a circuit, they zap and fall into the water and drown.

For a simpler approach, thread a tin can on a piece of wire just down from the lip. Put a couple of strips of lath or sheetmetal out so they can reach the can. Put peanut butter on the can. When they step out, the can rolls, and splash. Another way is to sprinkle seed on the top of the water, and they jump in thinking it's all seed. The seed becomes water soaked quickly, so you need to replace often.

Check daily, or the little darlings get to smelling really skanky really quick.

Steve

[mm]

Don Wiss, Confidential Squirrel Courier, starring....

We found an infant squirrel on the sidewalk at the Cloisters, being attacked by bees.

I think my girlfriend took it to the vet, and I know she gave it a cloth soaked in milk. But when I was at her place a couple days later, it died.

We buried in in Washington Square Park, next to a bush, where no one was looking. (Then NE corner is pretty quiet.)

[hallerb]

havahart trap, live trap and relocate give them time to raise their babies. chipmunks are really nice little buggers that normally live in burrows.

[Pat and Chris]

I have a similar problem with squirrels digging up the potted plants on the deck. I sprinkle cayenne (hot red) pepper powder liberally on the soil surface, and that seems to discourage them. I buy the cayenne in the food section of chain drugstores like CVS, where it's cheaper than the grocery store.

No suggestions for the chipmunk problems--we have them burrowing under our front lawn and would love to get rid of them without killing them.

Pat McC.

[Ether Jones]

Mothballs are made of either napthalene or paradichlorobenzene, not ammonia.

[HeyBub]

What's wrong with a cat? If you're afraid of commitment, you can borrow a furry feline friend for a fortnight.

[Andy & Carol]

Get some rat traps and bait them with peanut butter..they cant resist. Also works with squirrels..they can do harm,by chewing up your electric wiring, shorting it out,especially if they get into your attic!

[doodoo]

Put a sign in the garage where it's easily seen by the chipmunks. The sign should read "Warning Trespassers will be Prosecuted". They should leave immediately after they read the sign. If not, call the police and have them arrested.

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

I must have spice-loving squirrels in my neck of the woods because that hasn't worked for me. But on spice prices--- those big-box stores [Sam's, BJ's et al.] sell 1-2 lb containers for about what my local grocery gets for a couple ounces. Same name brand-- same flavor.

Jim

[klaatu]

Maybe this would work. I saw it on ATOH.

[Cue]

Try buying a box of dried blood at a garden center. It's dried cow's blood. Keeps many critters away.

We use it in the garden to drive away woodchucks and rabbits as well as squirrils. Might work for chipmunks, worth a try. You have to reapply after a rain when used outdoors. It's harmless to plants and actually works as a mild fertilizer.

[Oscar_Lives]

Just smash them with a hammer. That should take care of them.

[Oscar_Lives]

How do you spread their little legs apart?

[spartacus]

Why do you have to kill everything? After all, the chipmunks look just like your mama!