Where have all the chipmunks gone ?

[sprucebunny]

Sung to the tune involving flowers...

We have no chipmunks at all. Usually they start coming out when the snow is almost gone. There also aren't any red squirrels.

I think the long winter with thick ice under the snow has smothered the poor little things. I know some people don't like them but both are part of the food chain so what will foxes, owls, raptors and coyotes eat ???

Anyone else missing the little stripey guys ?

[terrifictimbersllc]

We saw red squirrels near Rockwood, ME this week. Ornery as ever. 

[Jeff]

Clearly they are all here again.

[Chuck White]

Here we have Chipmunks, Red Squirrels, Gray Squirrels and Black Squirrels!

And the Black cat is still coming around, hoping that the electric fence around the garden patch isn't hot anymore!   

[thecfarm]

They are showing up at the hardware store.

[Southside]

They are with the cowboys Paula Cole was singing about... 

[GAB]

Sprucebunny:
Bring your traps and plenty of bait as there is an excess of them here.
The neighbor says many are failing there final exams in swimming as they are fishing many out of the pool.
Gerald

[sprucebunny]

Southside- I was thinking of the Pete Seeger song recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1962 on thier debut album. Are they the same tune ?

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? - Wikipedia

I'm not the only person in this area who has noticed they are missing. We had our first snow that stayed on Nov. 1. That usually doesn't happen until mid December. They probably hadn't stored enough seeds or smothered/drowned under the slush and ice.

Thanks for the replies, everyone  

[Woodpecker52]

I would think they burrow into the earth or fallen or hollow trees and do not lay around in the snow or ice.  I assume they also hibernate like bears etc.

[Woodpecker52]

From the look of my tractor wiring I think they like farm equipment to over winter in also.

[Old Greenhorn]

They treat my woodpile like a condominium complex ;D. Once I got the woodpile re-stocked I saw a lot of activity, but then a new black cat showed up and started hanging around driving our house cats nuts. I saw that cat trot off with a little guy in his mouth one evening. That cat had an orange tabby buddy he bummed around with, I saw them both down in the woodlot and caught the black one on the game cam more than a few times. Haven't seen much of them in the last week or so though. Maybe they ran out of chipmunks. I kind of like the little guys, but the wife does not. The only 'harm' they seem to do is leave small nests in the woodpile here and there. The wife said something about her plants, but I dunno. I think the rabbits and the deer pretty much cover the plant issue.

[Crusarius]

I noticed the same thing with them disappearing. then I saw fisher tracks in the pond. I am pretty sure I figured out where they went.

Dinnertime!

The fishers seem to have moved on, because the population is coming back pretty strong.

[Lko67]

Fishers,hawks,bobcat got all my small game about done turkeys also.  Had 3 or 4 drop off cats running around the bobcat got all them.

[Chuck White]

Chipmunks do hibernate and they come back out in early Spring!

I've noticed (in this area anyways) that domestic cats will kill chipmunks, but they won't eat them!

[sprucebunny]

Well, there are neighbor cats and the population has been dwindling but I'm amazed to have none and no red sq. . As I said, other people in this valley have noticed it so it's not just because the cats are extra good hunters right here !

Chipmunks around me have holes in the ground. They aren't very fond of heights or tree climbing like the squirrels.
Chipmunk - Wikipedia

I always figured they woke up a little in winter: otherwize, why would they store so many seeds ???

In summer they do spend lots of time in a firewood pile that's been there a couple years.

[Chuck White]

Oh, if we get a warm spell during the Winter, they will come out of hibernation!

[bags]

No chipmunks, ground squirrels or mice around here--- the barn cats (pic) eat just about everything that's a bit smaller than them--- got another herd of wild ones out by the sawmill.

[Logger RK]

I must say I havnt seen any this spring yet either.But I have Oreilo's at my feeder. They skipped coming around last summer. 

[sawguy21]

Come to think of it I haven't seen a chipmunk for a long time. Brown squirrels are plentiful though. We are seeing racoons which must be escaping high property prices around Vancouver. ;D They were virtually unknown in this area when I was a kid.

[Chuck White]

Wow, that's a lot of cats, I count 25 in that pic!

Overall, glad it's you and not me!  ;)

No doubt about it, you are a cat person! ;D

[LeeB]

That is a lot of cats. Please tell me have had them fixed. 

[bags]

The coyotes and lions clean out around half of them through each winter--- population control--- then they start all over again in the spring. 

[thecfarm]

I had a cat that I would see have a chipmucks in his mouth weekly.

[WV Sawmiller]

   There are swarms of chipmunks everywhere here right now. I walked out to my wood storage shed yesterday and one was sitting on top of a pile of basswood. He ducked down between the stacks when I got close.

   Today I went to put out some minnow traps in my creek so I can go crappie fishing in the morning. I leave my traps on the creek bank tied to limbs and trees and my bridge and such convenient to the pools I am going to put them in. When I picked up my first trap to bait it today this little guy was in there. He did not look like he had been in there long as he was still very active and healthy looking. He took a long leap off my front porch when I freed him.


 I guess the lesson learned is to be sure the traps are open so critters don't get trapped and die in them. I had a 2' water snake in one I had left in the creek. He seemed happy to leave too.

[petefrom bearswamp]

They'r Heeeere buy the butt load

[Chuck White]

No shortage here either! 

[sprucebunny]

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

[Jeff]

Harley had one hung up for a bit today.

Chipmunk hide. - YouTube

[SwampDonkey]

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]

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

[WDH]

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]

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]

Jeff, 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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[SwampDonkey]

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]

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]

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

[SwampDonkey]

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]

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.


 

[Texas Ranger]

Big enough to fry?  Texas, ya know.

[goose63]

Jeff don't have them all my wild cats are eating good

[Jeff]

14 so far.

[btulloh]

Cancel the pig.

[thecfarm]

Cancel the pig.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Jeff]

I think this qualifies as an infestation. Im at 22 already 



 

[Peter Drouin]

Didn't you have trouble last year too?

[Jeff]

25 now.    Not last year. I'll have to look it up on here. seems like maybe 4 years ago?

[Jeff]

Don't tell PETA in The Outdoor Board

October of 2015, so almost 4 years ago.  Looks like the total for that year was 118.1

[SwampDonkey]

Definitely an infestation. ;D

[btulloh]

"Where have the chipmunks gone?"

They've gone to Jeff's house.

[Jeff]

28

[Woodpecker52]

need a few rattlesnakes to take care of them.

[Jeff]

um NO

[Peter Drouin]

Something going on over there. maybe someone on your street feeding them and let them loose in your yard. Pith anyone off over there. :laugh: ;)

[thecfarm]

I have mentioned it before. I work in a hardware/grain store. We have chipmunks. The grain brings them in. BUT Jeff seems to have more than we do. We might catch 28,but that is all summer,not in 2 weeks.   I had a cat that would catch them things. Seem like once a week he would bring me one. That bucket does work well. That is the only trap that really works for the store. Them critters are smart.

[breederman]

I cought one stealing bird food this morning,set a trap and got 6 in 10 hours.

[Jeff]

I was at 35 at noon today.

[WDH]

What do you call a conglomeration of chipmunks?

A whack. 

[Jeff]

Now at 48.

[Jeff]

Its a nice day, but not a good day to be a destructive chipmunk running around looking for something to get into at Forestry Forum central. I didn't check my traps yesterday. Today there was 9 in them. The count now stands at 60.

[sprucebunny]

They're back   Have seen a few of the cute stripey guys in the last week. I have to wonder if they scampered here from somewhere else or if this is a new generation from the few surviving the winter.

I think all the hawks, owls, coyotes, foxes and cats will keep my area from being as overrun as Jeff is.

[Jeff]

In my trapping im seeing 2 distinct generation sizes. Im catchong more little ones now than older ones

[SwampDonkey]

Every spring or June here there seems to be something after the young squirrels. I don't know if it is a male squirrel doing it or if they are succumbing to exposure when leaving the nest. I usually see a couple dead young ones out in the lawn, but found one that crawled into a corner in the barn and died, well I smell it. I know it is a squirrel because I seen it's tail in the corner of the barn door jam. It was there all the time I mowed the lawn, and that is an hour. Never moved. It wasn't there yesterday, so it crawled inside and died is my guess. I think long periods of cold rain takes a few.

[sprucebunny]

I still haven't seen one red squirrel ! No where in my travels. I thought I heard one chattering at my land further north. The red squirrels are pesky and sometimes try to get in my house but the chipmunks are no trouble here.

Maybe it's safe to fill the birdfeeder again even though the birds don't need much help this time of year. ( I stopped filling it a year and a half ago because of rodent problems. )

[SwampDonkey]

I only put out feed in the cold months with snow on the ground.

[Texas Ranger]

Jeff is creating his own dog food line.

[firefighter ontheside]

Walking down my long driveway the other day my kid pointed out a chipmunk that had gotten hit by one of our cars.  That was a first.  Never seen roadkill like that on my driveway.

[Jeff]

I suspended my trapping the first of July at 78. Started seeing the little _ _ _ _ _ again so set my buckets up about 6pm tonight. I am at 81 now at 8:30

[sprucebunny]

I still haven't seen or heard a red squirrel but there's a couple of chipmunks around.

[SwampDonkey]

There was a family of red squirrels this summer, but I think something as cleaned up on them. I smell a dead one in the barn. I have not heard a 'chatter box' in the yard in weeks. There are a couple chipmunks that stick mostly in the back yard under the yellow birch plantation. Or in the natural snow fence (brush) along the line. Oodles of ripe red berried elders now, so they are stuffing their cheeks. :D

What I have discovered recently is a brood of brown bats in behind the fascia overhang on the southern gable of the barn. Been seeing droppings below by the door and they are not squirrel or mouse. Noticed them the other day gathering in the barn just before sunrise. Good sign there are bats still around, but be nicer if they was up to the woodlot in the bat house by the beaver pond. :D The barn gets near 100 F in the attic/hip roof part of the barn and the heat holds there even on a cool day.

[Jeff]

5 more since last night. 

86.  Shame my dead chipmonk count is far exceeding the pigroast count this year.

[Jeff]

I guess everyone will get 2.  ;D

[Texas Ranger]

I guess everyone will get 2.  ;D

I like bar b q on mine, if I were to be there, never tried chipmonk.

[Peter Drouin]

86 that's crazy, Are you playing a flute to bring them in? :D :D ;D ;)