Chipmunks usually spend their day gathering food and scurrying around playfully on your lawn. They are hibernating animals, so they like digging complex tunnels to live in and sleep during winter.
5 Best-Selling Animal Trap
The problem is that when you find out that you have these furry guests setting up their home in your garage.
Despite their cute appearance, chipmunks can be quite pesky when they start chewing on your stuff and leaving their wastes behind in your garage. They are sometimes considered to be pests because they can cause a lot of property damage.
What Are Chipmunks?
Chipmunks are a type of striped rodents commonly found around the United States,, and they scavenge almost anything from food to plants in your garden.
They also eat all sorts of bugs and a variety of nuts. If you happen to find a stockpile of these snacks in your garage, chances are it might be infested with chipmunks.
They pile these foods to prepare for the winter season, and yes, they like to store their sustenance in places like your garage, basement, or attic.
At first, it does not seem like a big deal since they’re just looking for shelter, right? What you probably don’t know is that chipmunks create small holes they can pass through around the foundations of your house.
These holes may not be that noticeable at first, but this could pose a potential threat to your family within a few years within a few years because of the weakened house structure.
Chipmunks can reproduce pretty quickly, and before you know it, there is already irreparable internal damage to the frame of your house.
Difference of Chipmunk and Squirrel
Chipmunks and squirrels can be confusing as they both have similar apperance, but squirrels are entirely different with chipmunks.
Chipmunks have stripes and smaller compared to squirrels that are bigger and don’t have stripes but have pointed ears, bushy fur, and big eyes. So by knowing the difference between them is the easiest way to confirm their identity.
Why Do I Have Chipmunks On My Garage?
Food and shelter are the most common reason why chipmunks are in your garage. They can make your garage their shelter because it can provide warmth and a suitable place where they can sleep and rest especially during winter. Your garage may also have a source of food where they can hoard food for the upcoming winter.
They don’t any reason to establish a shelter inside your garage unless there is absolutely nowhere else they can nest. So keep watching out their possible entryway so you can block it off or seal it immediately.
How Much Damage Can They Cost?
When chipmunks infiltrate your garage, they can wreak havoc by chewing through electrical wires and other stuff that you have stored in there. The things you safely placed on top of a table are also not safe from them, as chipmunks can easily climb anything.
They can even chew through almost any protective cover you have installed using their sharp incisor teeth that can crunch through almost all kinds of thick items, including hardwood.
Chipmunks come from the family of rodents. And getting rid of this is similar to rat pest control methods. However, we would want to do it as humanly as possible, using the most effective ways of getting rid of them and preventing them from coming back.
How Do I Get Rid Of Them?
If you find a chipmunk infestation in your garage, don’t panic just yet. The good news is that getting rid of them can be done at your own time.
Here are some simple tricks and steps that you can do to get rid of chipmunks causing damage in your garage:
1. Place Cat Litter
Yep, you read it right. Cat litter is the easiest way to prevent chipmunks from nesting in your garage. Place the cat litter right by the entrances they usually pass through to prevent them from entering.
This is because when they catch the scent of the litter, they will think a cat is nearby, and they will be scurrying as far away as they can. You can also do this using coyote or fox urine pellets as they also are mortal enemies of chipmunks.
2. Use Mothballs
Using mothballs and placing them in the holes and passages these pesky little rodents have created can cause an unbearable odor for them.
Even if you leave the mothballs there for a while, the odor will stay in the air and will send the chipmunks out of your garage. This is because mothballs are a known deterrent for small animals, including chipmunks.
3. Use Cayenne Pepper Sprays
Because of its spicy taste, cayenne pepper is one of the most common repellants used for chipmunks. You can buy cayenne pepper from your local supermarket and spray it around the perimeter of your garage.
Make sure you cut it up so that the flesh of the pepper is exposed. This will release a spicy and very unpleasant aroma in the air that can deter rodents. The pepper should be strong enough that even a person can smell it intensively when they enter the garage.
4. Try Box Traps
If the odors and scents you placed still won’t prevent the pesky chipmunks from coming back, you can set up box traps instead.
Box traps are like metal cages with a single opening with bait inside it. The door is attached to a spring that will instantly lock the chipmunk inside once it steps in.
After checking and finding out that your box trap has caught a chipmunk, don’t harm the furry little pest.
Release them back to the wildlife. Lethal traps are discouraged by the wildlife preservation groups, so only use them when extremely necessary in worst cases of rodent infestation.
5. Clean And Organize Your Garage
The best way to ensure that chipmunks won’t be making a home out of your garage is to clean it out thoroughly. Get rid of rocks or wood piles stored in your garage that can serve as hiding places for chipmunks.
They tend to burrow beneath piles of wood, so it’s best to clean those out. Also, avoid keeping food items in your garages, such as a dog or cat food, and birdseed as these can attract chipmunks to keep coming back to your garage.
If you have no other place to store them, make sure they are placed in rodent-proof containers in your garage.
In getting rid of chipmunks from your garage, it can be a trial and error process. Not every repellant will work, so find the best one that will best suit your situation. Don’t be afraid to try new tricks that will work on the particular chipmunk family you have in your garage.
Above all, ensure the safety of your family and especially your kids, who will sometimes wander into your garage and can mistake the repellants you placed as food or candy.
- How Can I Extend my Wifi to my Detached Garage? | Tips to Extend Your Internet Coverage - December 25, 2021
- How to Make a Root Cellar in Your Garage - December 23, 2021
- How to Reinforce a Portable Garage - December 3, 2021