Chipmunks

Chipmunk infestations can be difficult to remove for the homeowner. Chipmunks are cute, but they can create havoc in the landscape. They dig up flowers and bulbs and eat garden veggies and fruit. They can chew through wires, cables, and pipes. We provide humane chipmunk removal services.

The eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus), is a member of the squirrel family and is common throughout the eastern United States. Chipmunks are usually found in mature woodlands and woodlot edges, but they also inhabit areas in and around suburban and rural homes such as around ornamental plantings, rock piles, outbuildings and below patios and building foundations. Although they are mostly burrowing rodents, they regularly climb oak trees in the fall to gather acorns. Around residences, they sometimes use downspouts and overhanging trees to gain access to rooftops.

Most people enjoy watching chipmunks. They are cute little mammals whose antics often make us laugh. They are also a part of the food chain in the wildlife community. Chipmunks prey upon various insects, and the chipmunks themselves serve as prey for various predators. Moreover, their food habits influence the growth of various plants.

But chipmunks can also be serious destructive pests when they become numerous around homes and gardens. The burrowing activity of chipmunks can cause significant structural damage by undermining foundations, concrete patios and steps, retaining walls and sidewalks. They may also be destructive to gardens when they dig up and eat bulbs and seeds or attack garden fruits.
The eastern chipmunk is a small brownish ground dwelling squirrel 5-6 inches long, with two pale and five blackish longitudinal stripes on its back, and two pale and two brownish stripes on each side of the face. The rump is reddish brown; the tail is 3-4 inches long and is hairy. Chipmunks normally weigh 2 and 4 ounces.

Sometimes the chipmunk is confused with another ground squirrel, the thirteen-lined ground squirrel (also called “striped gopher”). The thirteen-lined ground squirrel is yellowish, lacks the facial stripes, and the tail is not as bushy as the chipmunk’s. And, as this squirrel’s name implies, it possesses 13 stripes extending from the shoulder to the tail on each side and back. When startled a ground squirrel carries the tail horizontally along the ground; the chipmunk carries the tail upright.