Where have all the chipmunks gone ?

Chuck White · May 28, 2019, 06:37:40 PM

No shortage here either!

sprucebunny · May 28, 2019, 06:51:00 PM

I still haven't seen one or a red squirrell.

Jeff · June 02, 2019, 08:17:18 PM

Harley had one hung up for a bit today.

Chipmunk hide. - YouTube

SwampDonkey · June 02, 2019, 08:51:57 PM

Chip and Dale are definitely here in the wood piles. :D

I fed them squirrels all winter, but the blue jays got all the peanuts I can assure you they was way quicker finding them. :D Just Youtube 'blue jays and peanuts'. Blue Jays are way above them squirrels in intelligence. :D

Just today I found a cluster of 6 sprouting acorns, some squirrel hid last fall, in the black berry bed and gave them to my brother to plant.

nativewolf · June 02, 2019, 09:12:26 PM

@wdh says they migrated to warmer climes, inside his new toy.

WDH · June 03, 2019, 06:39:58 AM

Too hot for them here. Surprising, you start encountering them about a 2 hour drive to the North. There are other "Surprises" when one travels North from here, the more North, the more "Surprises" :D.

sprucebunny · June 03, 2019, 04:29:15 PM

Jeff, are you sure there's a chipmunk in there ???

Still none here and had another report of them being Gone in another corner of our valley.

Guess I will need to import some from you folks who are so rich with them :D

Jeff · June 03, 2019, 04:36:56 PM

Quote from: sprucebunny on June 03, 2019, 04:29:15 PMJeff, are you sure there's a chipmunk in there ???

It went in, and right back out and up the tree. I saw it go up, Harley did not. Harley looks in that hole now every time he goes outside. :D

Jim_Rogers · June 03, 2019, 05:05:14 PM

I have one running around my sawmill yard. That's about it.
I leave the shop door open most mild days and sometimes he runs in and takes a look around.
And when I tell him to go, he does.
Jim Rogers

Peter Drouin · June 03, 2019, 09:27:23 PM

I have a bunch, I feed them, they feed the rest up the food chain. :D ;D
You would not believe the wildlife around here.
And no trouble at all in the last 35 years. Even the bears behave.

Old Greenhorn · June 03, 2019, 10:16:52 PM

I have been reading this thread since it started. I didn't comment but it did make me think about my little guys running around here. Usually when I restock the woodpile in the spring they move in and treat it like a Condo Complex, running in and out all summer long. They hurt nothing. This year one started setting up shop when I was only half done. However, two new strange cats showed up and started hunting my stack... with some success. Now I see none.
I have never seen any of these little guys around the mill area, just rarely in the woods. But last weekend I was stripping a bunch of hemlock poles on the bench at the mill. I had a big pile of shavings (It's nice working in the woods, i can just leave the piles of chips.) Apparently my new little guy sees value in these shavings, so much so that he won't wait till I move away. He keeps running around my feet, totally ignoring me, getting what ever he is looking for.
I couple of days ago I saw one of the cats on my game cam and he was hunting and caught something I could not see, but I saw him trot off with a mouth full of fur. I hope it wasn't my little buddy, but I have not seen him since then. These cats are beginning to pith me off. Tonight, one was outside the window checking out one of my house cats and it became 'noisy'. I may break my rule and start discouraging these cats. I see no collars and they seem to be out hunting at all hours based on my game cam photos. I really don't want a feral cat population around here, that would be a new problem and upset the balance.

Jeff · June 05, 2019, 05:17:45 PM

This is why you can't let the population get big, in fact why id eliminate them if I could. Ive shot 6 in the head with a bb gun in the last 2 days, then did what i could to make sure they were all out. They chewed through my cedar log siding and into a wall cavity.

Sure as can be that they were all out before i did this. I filled it. You are seeing overflow ill trim when its dry.

sprucebunny · June 05, 2019, 05:36:31 PM

Chipmunks are about the only rodent that Hasn't invaded my house !! They seem happy to dig holes and have a happy home under the hemlock trees.

Maybe the ground is harder around your house ?

Jeff · June 05, 2019, 05:43:59 PM

Well, in the case of this spot, its concrete.

SwampDonkey · June 05, 2019, 06:06:32 PM

Our biggest pain in the behind over the years are cursed ground hogs. They won't get into these newer buildings though because they're all on footings and can't dig under. The squirrels make a mess in the barn, they cart insulation all over in there. :D

Chuck White · June 05, 2019, 09:08:22 PM

I've shot a quite a few after we put the swimming pool in, years back.

Those little buggers would tunnel under the pool, then with the weight of the water, their tunnel would collapse making a divet in the pool floor!

We don't have very many now, but there are some.

One side of my house has two rooms added over the years and is up on piers and is not skirted "yet", so this Spring I put 2 strands of electric fence the length of the opening, one about 1½ and the second about 3 inches above the ground.

One evening I had a skunk find the hot line, I didn't see it happen, but I know it did, then one day I was mowing on that side of the house and noticed a Chipmunk and watched him, eventually he wanted to go under the house, w e l l, he smelled/touched the bottom wire and was launched out into the yard about 3-4 feet. Wish I could have had a video.

The fence charger is good for 2 miles of wire and I only have about 80 feet, so it's pretty hot!

WDH · June 06, 2019, 07:18:34 AM

All the chipmunks must have gone to Jeff's house. Maybe they are having an Acorn Roast there :D.

SwampDonkey · June 07, 2019, 05:36:19 AM

We had a weasel here last winter, so I'm sure a few red squirrels fed him. We had a white tailed red squirrel last summer and have not seen him in months. Thinning out the crop. We also have lots of foxes around to, so them little guys have to be on alert. :D

Jeff · June 09, 2019, 02:31:12 PM

I set two bucket traps out a little over an hour ago. I just checked them. The one in the flower garden by the front had 4 in it. One hour. The one behind my polebarn depicted here, 2 already. One hour. I didn't figure anyone needed to see 6 wet dead ground squirrels. I don't enjoy it.