Dog just snoozes while a chipmunk runs amok in my house

[RoughCollie]

Yet another furry animal has entered my life. First, I had a pet shrew, who came in every night at the same time, stayed about an hour, then left. He was cute and quick and the dog ignored him. That lasted about a year until we had the tiny place where he entered the house fixed.

 

Now I have what could be one, or a half dozen, chipmunks -- they skitter so fast it is hard to tell. They waltz right in through the sliding glass door. When we got this new door last year, I put the screen door on it, but the dog and I kept walking right into it, and finally I decided not to keep putting it back on. It gets downright embarrassing to be the only person in the family who tries to walk through the screen door. Some people never learn!

 

So I've brought this upon myself. Yesterday, I nearly gave the chipmunk some nuts while we both occupied my kitchen. Then I came to my senses. One should not feed the very animals one would like to have exit stage left.

 

I can hear it now -- it makes a lot of noise and gosh, I hope it's not a squirrel. Nah, a squirrel would be zipping around the walls, and my little chippie is staying on the floor.

 

I like my chipmunks quite a lot. I have one who lives in the front yard, and I've been watching him (or his progeny) pop out of the various holes connected to his "front door" hole for years. Another one lives right next to the sliding glass door -- his main door is under the step.

 

Despite their cuteness, they are like furry mice and I am mouse-phobic. I have, more than once, leaped across a large room and onto a high table in a single bound when a mouse was nearby -- and I could never repeat that feat unless I was *that* agitated.

 

So when a chipmunk is in the house, I wear shoes, keep my worthless-for-protection dog nearby and keep my feet up when I'm sitting on a chair.

 

So is this a big problem? What am I not foreseeing? I rather want to avoid having a herd of chipmunks residing with us during the winter. I have a feeling this winter will be particularly cold because the squirrels have been preparing for it for weeks now, earlier than usual.

 

If this is a problem that my cuteness-clouded brain is not comprehending properly, what should I do about it? I do not want the little chipmunk to get hurt, so a mouse trap is not the answer. Neither is leaving the sliding glass door closed -- the weather is nice, and I don't have to get up every three seconds to let the dog out or put up with listening to him loudly and persistently ring his sleigh bells to get me to the door. When it gets colder, I close the doors (for 6 or 7 months of the year).

 

Thank you,

RC

[Parrothead]

Other than getting or borrowing a cat, I have no idea. A cat will treat it just like it would a mouse though.

[Laura in VA]

Maybe get one of those "humane" traps? I really don't know what those are or where you'd get one but it sounds nice, doesn't it? ;)

[Kathy in MD]

Look for a dog "door" that fits into sliding glass doors. I've seen them with screen inserts that would allow ventilation. I don't know if it's chipmunk proof, but at least it would slow them down. Then a humane trap could eliminate any caught inside.

[Remudamom]

Put your screen door back on and add some stickers so that you will see it before you walk through it. If you get a cat you'll have little dead bodies in the house.

 

And face it, collies love other animals. My Laddie used to bring me cheeping chicks and demand that I take care of them. I don't think he ever chased another animal in his life, except for sheep, and that was to bring them to me.

[swellmomma]

Put your screen door back on and add some stickers so that you will see it before you walk through it. If you get a cat you'll have little dead bodies in the house.

 

And face it, collies love other animals. My Laddie used to bring me cheeping chicks and demand that I take care of them. I don't think he ever chased another animal in his life, except for sheep, and that was to bring them to me.

 

 

YUP Yup YUP. Also you can get one of those magic screens that retracts if despite the stickers you still walk into them.

[Mom to Aly]

I agree with the screen door with stickers--great idea.

 

And I'd love to know where you live to have chipmunks coming up! All we have are neighbors outdoor cats (which I think is so wrong) that torture my dogs! Quite annoying! Oh, and squirrels that drop acorns on us--literally!

[RoughCollie]

I live in a suburban town in Massachusetts. We have coyotes, foxes, deer, skunks, possums, beavers, shrews, moles, chipmunks, mice, squirrels, birds, and raccoons. The area I live in was a farm 30 years ago.

 

I like the animals. So does my dog -- he's never met an animal, from bear to shrew, that he minds having around.

 

And I'd love to know where you live to have chipmunks coming up!

[Mom to Aly]

Hmmm, the bear and coyote I would not be thrilled with--my dog chases leaves, dragging me along with her. We are really wet here, and we have a ton of frogs lately! I spend half the time outside with her holding up her head, and saying "Go potty--no frogs--go potty--no frogs"!!

[Paula in PA]

Maybe get one of those "humane" traps? I really don't know what those are or where you'd get one but it sounds nice, doesn't it? ;)

 

Check with your local humane shelter. They may have some that are small enough. The only other place I can think of would be a local wildlife office. Then put the screen back on with a big sticker at eye height. :001_smile:

 

Your lucky in a way, though. My lovely thinks she's a guard dog and would proceed to chase the chippie throughout the house, completely trashing it in the process. Assuming of course, one of the cats didn't get it first! :D

[GailV]

 

So is this a big problem? What am I not foreseeing? I rather want to avoid having a herd of chipmunks residing with us during the winter. I have a feeling this winter will be particularly cold because the squirrels have been preparing for it for weeks now, earlier than usual.

 

 

Hmm, do chipmunks store up food supplies for winter? Could they be storing it somewhere in your house? And then have no access when you shut the door? I have no idea if chipmunks do such things, but that could be a problem.

 

Around here they burrow so much that they can destroy a porch -- they'll dig the soil right out from under it. My neighbor said a family of chipmunks burrowed under their florida room and one/some/all died ... and rotted ... and stunk. Generally, they are considered a pest around here, very destructive with the burrowing. But, as I'm learning in Burgess Animal Book, there are several types of many of these little critters, so maybe yours are different than ours. The neighbor's cats are seen as local heroes for their efforts with the chipmunk population reduction program.

 

On a gardening website I read that the have-a-heart traps will work nicely. I wonder how far away you'd have to re-locate before they came back, though, to their comfy home.

[lovemyboys]

Other than getting or borrowing a cat, I have no idea. A cat will treat it just like it would a mouse though.

 

 

:lol: Sorry, this thread is bringing tears to my eyes. A few years ago, we had mice that I thought were cute until I read about "the scent trail" and realized that they were running every.where. ewww.

 

When I was a kid we had the greatest hunting cat ever. He brought all kinds of critters to the back step and left them there, or bits of them, for all of us to admire and praise him. He was amazing, stayed mostly outdoors (country) and lived to be almost 20.

 

One time my mother found a mouse inside in a back bedroom. We brought our wonderful hunter inside, closed the door and expected dire things for the mouse. Our cat was clueless. He just kept looking at us when we would peek in, they finally had to get the mouse some other way. It was like the poor cat was totally out of his element and couldn't possibly adapt to hunting indoors!!

 

Thanks for sharing, I particularly liked the part about "ready to share nuts" with him!

[RoughCollie]

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm going to call our animal control officer and ask her if she has a have-a-heart trap for small animals.

 

Then I am going to convince someone to do something with whatever I catch. That would be either DH or the animal control lady.

 

Can't have a cat -- DD is allergic to them and they love to torture the dog. He got over being afraid of them and I don't want a 95 lb. dog chasing a cat all over my house for fun and exercise.

 

 

My neighbors think of these animals as pests, but I adore them. I love to watch wild animals in nature, but I'm afraid of them in enclosed places. That includes caged ones.

 

I'm also afraid of chickens. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone. I plan to get over that fear and get a few of my own someday.

 

RC

[lovemyboys]

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm going to call our animal control officer and ask her if she has a have-a-heart trap for small animals.

 

Then I am going to convince someone to do something with whatever I catch. That would be either DH or the animal control lady.

 

 

My dad uses these all the time. They're really easy to use for catching, then spring open to release when you've reached the animal's "new home!" He puts newspapers in the trunk, puts the trap on top and then drops the chipmunk into a field with a stone wall on his way into town. I wouldn't leave them in it all day in the middle of summer, but they're fine in there for awhile.

[Janet in Toronto]

Borrow a terrier. Their prey drive is incredibly strong.

 

We took ours up to our cottage and he got rid of all the mice inside, and caught (and killed) two squirrels outside. He would chase deer in our backyard when we lived in suburban Atlanta. He is twenty pounds of pure predation.

 

Janet