I trap the chipmunks (ground squirrels) in my yard because they are digging holes around the bird feeders. I have always used peanut butter for bait. This year i have one avoiding the trap. He has been close to it but ignores it. I usually catch them within a few days of setting the traps but not this guy. Any advice is sppreciated.

You can try putting an actual peanut on the trigger held with a rubber band . Perhaps it has seen or had a bad experience with that trap so using a different kind of trap might help too.

I always use a rat trap inside of a weasel box baited with shelled corn caught 31 around the house so far this summer

I trap them with a Victor rat trap and a in the shell peanut wire to the pan. Wire it firm so they have to work to get it off the pan. I've never had much luck with peanut butter.

Serious question- why would you want to trap them? I enjoy watching the squirrels and occasional chipmunk at my feeder as much as the birds. Are they destructive? Not judging at all, just curious. I guess if you're trapping 31 like jalstat you would have to take some or there wouldn't be any food for the birds.

Plus they will plug up any drain tile they can get into.

Sunflower seeds work well.

Coat the pan with peanut butter and cover with sunflower seeds has worked well in the past. If you have a smart one, you may have to paint your trap blue.

They tunnel like crazy around my house foundation that’s when I draw the line that can do a ton of damage

I trap them because they tunnel under the foundation of my garage, got into my trapping shed and made a mess there. I also trap red squirrels because they have made holes in the soffits on my garage and get into the insulation.

What kind of a pan is on the trap? I have had the best luck with the large yellow pans

https://diypestcontrol.com/victor-h...pYTZOYeL248VbaZMdkTXSJzaGBxoCxQwQAvD_BwE

These critters burrowed under my brick patio and caused areas to cave in. Had to pull everything up, tamp and level screenings and a layer of wire.

That's the kind I use. Only problem with them is being plastic, they wear out and eventually come off.

This one like cat food

One of the most destructive creatures on my land. Will burrow and undermine concrete. Also burrow into the walls of the house. Seeing as they don't go into a true hibernation, actually I thinks it's topur. They will be awake and active if it's warm enough. Getting them out of your walls in the winter is a chore to say the least

I would never have guessed they could fire a DP. Crazy!

Another problem with the plastic pans.

Might try a small live trap.


wws

Jeez I had no idea! Not enough in my immediate area to cause me a problem thankfully.

anyone tried the #40 RBG

https://fntpost.com/product/40-rbg-single-spring-round-body-grip-trap

and covering the holes

any success in this?

I bet if you put penut butter away from the trap you will see that chipmunk eat it. change the trap type and present it differently.

Have you tried using the bird feed your putting out? Feed stuck on P-butter. Obviously it likes it!

This one yesterday this is my go to in a weasel box

Chipmunks cause millions of dollars worth of damage to patios, walkways and driveways where bricks, blocks or rocks are set on and leveled with sand. The sand is very easy for the chipmunks to dig out leading to collapses.

Keith

[quote=KeithC][quote=charles]These critters burrowed under my brick patio and caused areas to cave in. Had to pull everything up, tamp and level screenings and a layer of

That's why I kill every one I see.

Set a 1 1/2 long spring in front of the hole. Pound a depression in the ground and lightly cover with grass. Or use the same trap bedded the same way at the base of a rain downspout…DEADLY.

They can be very destructive under a truck hood. Chew wires and build nests .Very expensive repairs. trust me.

I only use Victor rat traps....with the small metal pan --no plastic. I also only use peanut butter. I set them along foundations and walls. Just like everything trapping anything else-its all about location. Hard to draw a chipmunk away from travel routes with bait......but if you put a trap where he wants to be already.....that's most of it.


Or if all else fails--- get a pellet gun and build a lawn chair blind on your deck with a beer can camouflaging your face.....and wait.

If you know what holes the chipmunks are using, you can force them out with water. My uncles on my mom's side, used to catch chipmunks in the nearby cemetery. They would use the water buckets and hand pumps in the cemetery to get water, which they poured down the holes. They put mason jars over every hole they could find. The chipmunks would flee the water and come up into the jars. They then slid pieces of cardboard under the jar, trapping the chipmunks. Once, my uncles's friend Scott was holding and stroking a somewhat drowned chipmunk against his chest. He said "It's about half tame already." at about the same time it bit through his left nipple. He jerked it off partially severing his nipple and threw the chipmunk into a headstone.

Keith