Yep. They definitely do go crazy for them. In fact, now I think I have all the chipmunks in the entire neighborhood in MY yard.
Even the "guaranteed" bucket of liquid death hasn't worked. The chipmunks eat all the "tempter" seeds I put on the long ramp, get to the top, gaze down at the massive bounty of seeds floating just inches below..... then turn around and leave. I've actually seen them do this several times. They must watch YouTube & know what to expect.
This is not working out quite the way I expected.
---------------
Mel & Larry gave me some ideas to try. We'll see tomorrow. Right now, an Ak47 seems like a pretty good option.
Last edited by Allan Speers; 07-24-2016 at 3:30 PM.
UPDATE:
It's 2 am, and I just went out to check on the "bucket of death" one more time. I had made the water level even higher, figuring that might help. Maybe 3" from the top. The surface was totally packed with seeds.
From a distance, I saw that the ramp had fallen down. Perhaps a customer?
well, yeah, but.... ALL OF THE SEEDS WERE GONE, except for a few empty husks, and no dead animals of any kind.
I assume a raccoon must have straddled the bucket & had himself a time.
This is not working out quite the way I expected.
Last edited by Allan Speers; 07-24-2016 at 2:19 PM.
Lee Schierer
USNA '71
Go Navy!
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Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night
This is starting to sound like Carl the groundskeeper and his battles with the gophers in caddyshack. (sorry Allan)
my bucket of death method is as follows:
I set the bucket next to the deck which is up two steps. So the ramp is basically level with the top of the bucket. Like a diving board. The board is actually a left over window blind slat about 2" wide and maybe 1/8" thick or so and slick plastic. I hang the ramp/diving board over the edge and sprinkle half a dozen seeds on the board. once they walk past the bucket edge the board tipped in. I used about 8-12" of water in the bottom and enough black oil sunflower seeds to make it look a nice solid surface for them.
id keep an eye on it if I was home and use the pellet gun to end them quickly if I was around. I just noticed a few holes this weekend and one just ran across the deck so it's probably time to set it up again.
good luck. My other method is just sitting outside in a lawn chair at dusk with a pellet gun and a beer and wait for them to show. Takes a little while but the beer makes it tolerable. Figure I'm drinking beer somewhere anyways so I might as well do something productive.
Tried the water bucket for a week with no results. Bought a $3 rat trap from the hardware store. Caught nine chipmunks & two field mice in just over two-weeks.
I'd go with an air rifle rather than the slingshot. But that's because I'm terrible with a slingshot.
Just make sure you don't get Alvin, the chipmunk. The penalty is that the chipmunks will sing "Christmas, Christmas time is near, time for toys and time for cheer, etc" outside your window every night, for the rest of your life.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
I started with rats and got rid of them and the chipmunks moved in. I sent the rat traps out and watched a chipmunk sit on the trap and eat the peanut butter. He was just too little to set off the rat trap.
Had a problem with Chipmunks digging into the shed. Ate holes right through the plywood. 6 #2 Sleepy Creek Double Longspring traps got rid of them within 2 days !
"#2 Sleepy Creek Double Longspring traps"
Whoa! Nasty.
I LIKE IT! Death! Death! DEATH ! ................
- But I'd be worried that a neighbor's cat might get caught in one of those. Unlikely, but not impossible. That would be not so good.
Last edited by Allan Speers; 07-25-2016 at 8:37 PM.
Given that I live in a state that is increasingly paranoid about all kinds of stuff like this, I don't know anything. However, I do know of... uh... a friend in a neighboring state... who was fed up with the chipmunks digging under his patio, leaving trap-like sinking patio stones that would have broken Indiana Jones's neck (and spirit). From what I understand, the 'Rat Zapper,' baited with a little peanut butter on a bottle cap from a craft brew, is incredibly effective, and pretty cheap from Amazon. You know, that's what I heard. Not that I know or anything. Plus, the wife thinks they're cute.
In my mind they are nothing but rats that have evolved with a cute exterior motif that seems to save them by wives and moms calling them too cute to execute.
NOW you tell me...