Chipmunks

[Yppej]

DS does not object so I will try the have a heart traps next year. I already gave up on this year's and stopped watering it so it is too late for this year. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Yppej]

The chipmunks are at it again this year. So far they are only after the strawberries. I am going to try fencing first. The Agways in my area have all closed, so it looks like I will make my first ever trip to the Tractor Supply chain tomorrow after work. Then if that fails or if they start going after other things maybe traps. I already put mothballs all around the garden and it has not helped.

The strawberries are inside a bed bound on the bottom sides by railroad ties that I think they cannot dig through, so maybe fencing will work.

[Yppej]

I covered the strawberries so now they or the rabbits ate my dill. It is now covered in netting and I will see if it recovers.

[catherine]

I haven't had pests in my VT garden for the years I've been here. No deer, no chipmunks, no rabbits--nothing. In New Jersey I had all of the above. I wonder if it's because the community is like a golf course. There's not much natural vegetation attracting the critters.

I am planting new perennial stuff every year, and in the back of my mind I wonder if the more I plant, the more likely I'll be to lure garden pests. I say "garden pests" because I actually think chipmunks are adorable. But I do want my garden pest-free. So far so good.

[nswef]

Bunny trouble. I was so tickled to see rabbits again...now the zinnia seedlings are gone...vinca nibbled, so the annuals might just not be prolific this year.

[dado potato]

I have a friend who's plagued by chipmunks. He tries to keep the numbers down with humane traps. Every couple days he takes his trapped chipmunks across a bridge and lets them go.

Mind you, there could be equally humane trappers on the other side of the river!

My friend spray paints the chipmunk's tails (green). If some green-tailed critters appear in his yard, then he would know there is a two-way flow of humanely-trapped chipmunks.

[happystuff]

My friend spray paints the chipmunk's tails (green). If some green-tailed critters appear in his yard, then he would know there is a two-way flow of humanely-trapped chipmunks.

That is both cute and clever!

[razz]

Critters know where home is and will return just like dogs do. A friend's DH moved raccoons using a live-trap which kept coming to eat the fish in their garden pond and suddenly he realized that there were more coons than could be controlled. In addition a heron started stopping and fishing in their pond as well. They gave up the fish in the pond and some years later, the pond itself. With the fish gone, the coons and heron no longer were a problem.

I think chipmunks are really cute as well. It is hard to know what to successfully do when they invade a garden.

[Yppej]

The chipmunk population has exploded this year in the Northeast - rats too! I haven't grown edibles for several years, but the chippies didn't used to bother my tomatoes or cukes, which is pretty much what we used to grow. I read in a FB garden group that they may be going for the water content in the tomatoes, so maybe you could try putting out a low bowl of water for them.

This year has been very wet but something is still eating my tomatoes. The bites are bigger than a chipmunk would make, unlike last summer. I am now picking them as soon as they get a little orangeish and letting them ripen on my counter.

Maybe a groundhog?

There is also a big tunnel dug near the garden or as my mother calls it their restaurant.

[Tybee]

This year has been very wet but something is still eating my tomatoes. The bites are bigger than a chipmunk would make, unlike last summer. I am now picking them as soon as they get a little orangeish and letting them ripen on my counter.

Maybe a groundhog?

There is also a big tunnel dug near the garden or as my mother calls it their restaurant.

Maybe a skunk?