Florin 4 - Chipmunks 0

Recently I have noticed numerous holes in the ground on all sides of the house. Nothing real major, just significant enough to attract my attention. I sat still on the deck one day for an extended period of time and noticed chipmunks moving around in the yard. Friday I finally got around to buying a trap. I was going to use the less-than-humane, drowning in a bucket technique but I opted for catch-and-release. I would resort to the bucket trick if the store-bought trap wouldn't work or if it turned out that I had a massive infestation on my hands.

Friday night I set the trap with some bird seed I bought at ACE Hardware and a few crab apples from the yard. I left the trap overnight and nothing happened. Then I got the idea of trying some cheese (which was old and had started to turn green). I figured it would smell nice and strong and attract some attention. Within a few hours, I caught my first chipmunk. I drove out into the corn fields and released the little bugger. As you can see in the picture, they're very cute and cuddly. Unfortunately, they are also very destructive and very good at procreating. Best to get rid of them before they become a problem.

I repeated the procedure but this time with peanut butter. This seemed to work even better. By mid day I had caught 3 chipmunks in three areas around the house where the holes had appeared. I was feeling pretty good about myself!

After catching each chipmunk, I went and covered up all the holes around where I captured each respective chipmunk. This way, if the burrow is still inhabited, I'll know because the access holes get reopened. That's how I'll know if I got them all or not.

After having released my third chipmunk, I returned home and heard a noise from one of the down spouts from the gutters near where I'd seen activity before. I went straight there and set the trap at the end of the downspout without any bait. Then I proceeded to shake and rattle the downspout until a confused chipmunk with his mouth full of bird seed came running out and straight into the trap. Thus I captured 2 chipmunks within 10 minutes of each other. After releasing this one too, I haven't had any more activity. However I'll keep setting the trap for another day or so just to be safe.

All in all I'd say I'm glad I spent the $25 for a trap that I think has already paid for itself after one day of hunting.