Cute Rodent of the Week: Because they are taking bites out of all of my ripe tomatoes

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Monday, August 29. 2016

Cute Rodent of the Week: Because they are taking bites out of all of my ripe tomatoes

This has been a great year for rodents in Yankeeland. I've never seen so many bunnies (Cottontail Rabbits) or Chipmunks around. Maybe somebody shot the Coyotes?

Like other ground squirrels, these cheerful little fellows don't climb often, and live in tunnels.

Mine have some burrows under my garden shed, and some live in a rock pile. They are rather tame, but the dog doesn't seem to be able to catch them. They like the free lunch of seed that falls off my bird feeder tray, so I can watch them poking around two feet from my window.

At Mohonk Mountain House in the Catskills (short video of that wonderful place here), they have always had a number of little Victorian-style chipmunk houses around the place. Like doll houses, but sturdy and shingled. They seem to like those houses.

When I was a kid I caught one in a Havahart trap and tried to tame it, but that plan did not work and I finally let it go. Sharp teeth, and loves freedom and independence.

You can read more about these fine critters here.

Posted by Bird Dog in Natural History and Conservation at 17:00 | Comments (24) | Trackback (1)

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This is fairly simple as these things go. Let's place you in an average scenario: You're a major league powerhouse blogger on Maggie's Farm and you've promised the readers an article on chipmunks. The very thought of actually having to do r

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We always have some around, they run off with their cheeks full of all the cracked corn I put out for the turkeys. There seems to be a lot more of them than usual this year.

#1 Santay on 2008-09-09 14:07 (Reply)

I had planted and nurtured a cedar for about 8 years, until these nasty striped rats ate through the inner bark, or “phloem”, all around the trunk just underground. As this is the pipeline through which food is passed to the rest of the tree, it died in two weeks.

#1.1 Gwynne on 2013-03-16 13:58 (Reply)

That would make me go squirrel hunting. I live in a city and can't shoot 'em, but I can always throw rocks.

#1.1.1 jdgalt on 2016-08-29 17:37 (Reply)

Interesting . Huge numbers of both cottontails and chipmunks here in eastern Ohio too . Yesterday evening on the short walk to my mailbox I counted eleven cottontails in sight all at the same time . Also saw a chipmonk climbing up a yucca seed stalk to feed on the seeds , an activity I had never before observed .

#2 Sandhill on 2008-09-09 14:30 (Reply)

They tame easily enough, eating out of hand and all that.

Their idea of motionlessness is much less exact than a bird's.

#3 Ron Hardin (Link) on 2008-09-09 14:39 (Reply)

BD, what's up with you? First we get a story on how a rat destroyed your grill, and now we get a picture of another rat. Maybe tomorrow you should show a picture of Obama, another rat. A dirty commie rat.

#4 jappy on 2008-09-09 16:56 (Reply)

Where's the "PIP"??

#4.1 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2013-03-16 13:46 (Reply)

More good rats in the pipeline.

#5 Bird Dog on 2008-09-09 17:04 (Reply)

I have raised Chipmunks for many years. They do NOT make good pets, but are VERY beneficial around the garden, so encourage them and do not harm them. Avoid all pesticides and synthetic fertilizers that are bad for Chipmunks, birds and bees. The balance of life makes your farm and yard a healthy one.

#6 D Larson on 2012-02-19 13:01 (Reply)

My dog can catch them. NOT giving her breakfast keeps her predatory instincts keen. She sneaks up on them, and also digs them out of their burrows (after scouting the tunnels).

#7 retriever on 2013-03-16 13:54 (Reply)

our golden retrievers were fascinated by their western cousins, the white-tailed antelope squirrel, and had many fruitless adventures digging out their warrens.

that said, today we lost Lauren to cancer. she got her GED, but had ADD and didn't pay attention very well, but she was a Good Dog.

#8 wirraway on 2013-03-16 14:52 (Reply)

I used to think they were cute, but seeing how much they tear things up kill as many as I can. But they are prolific.

#9 Tippecanoe on 2013-03-16 19:20 (Reply)

They are destructive, undermining everything with their tunnels and warrens. I use rat traps and peanut butter.

And yes, there was an incredible number of them around this year. Never saw so many.

#9.1 Knucklehead (Link) on 2016-08-29 18:11 (Reply)

Rabbits (and hares, as well) are assuredly not "rodents". They are in a taxonomic category of their own, the lagomorphs. Common error.

#10 Digitconserv on 2013-03-16 20:44 (Reply)

When I was a kid, our dog caught one, and held it in its mouth until it could show it to us. The dog ran up, tail wagging, something obviously alive and squirming in its mouth, and spat the chipmunk out on the ground at our feet. It sat there, frozen in shock and covered with drool, then bolted out into the woods. The dog never looked happier.

#11 model_1066 on 2013-03-17 01:10 (Reply)

My brother wanted a pet. My parents, the silly goof balls they were, bought him a chimpmunk. It was cute, but you didn't play with this thing. It got loose in the house a couple of times and sent my mom through the roof. "You boys get that rat back in it's cage!! Now!!!". It chewed up the insides of a chair and a sofa. Made some very impressive nests in there.

Finally, one day, it was time to take it back to the pet shop. She had enough. My brother cried. We loaded it up in the old Nash Rambler. Just as my mom put the key in the ignition, my brother opened the cage door to pet the chipmunk one last time. Oooooooooooops. He was gone. Went right over ther front seat and into the dash. Mom went right out the door, keys still hanging out of the ignition. I put the windows up, got the keys and got my brothers out of the car.

For three days we tried to catch that thing as more and more stuff fell out from under the dash an onto the floor mats. I was beginning to wonder if the old Nash would even start ever again. We were without a car for three days and tension was building.

Finally I lit on an idea. I surmised that the chipmunk must be getting hungry. So I took his cage and turned it into a trap. It had a vertical sliding door on the cage. I took a stick and balanced the door open and then fastened another stick inside with food on it. Sure enough, that thing went back in his cage and tripped the door. We went out the next morning and there it was, trapped in it's old home.

My mom then tie wrapped the door shut, sent me and my brothers in the house and zoomed off to the pet shop. I think that she actuallly had to pay them to take it back. It was the first time I ever babysat my brothers with mom off the premises. When she got home we went out and brought in the groceries. I think that she was about as happy as I've ever seen her. My dad was in Saudi Arabia for six months on a contract so she had to handle all of this by herself. No more miniature pets. Only dogs from then on.

#12 Larry Geiger on 2013-03-19 09:38 (Reply)

The chipmunks at our old lake place used to drive my dog nuts. One of their favorite spots was an 8-foot piece of downspout next to the woodpile. They'd run into that, and my doofus-dog would stick his snoot into it...the chipmunk would run to the far end, pop out and climb on top of the downspout. About then, the dog would notice, and run to that end, whereupon the chipmunk would dive back into the downspout, and run back to the first end; meanwhile, the dog now had his snoot in the other end. I swear that they were laughing at the dumb dog trying to chase them.

I'd always heard that a definition of a well-stacked woodpile was that a chipmunk could go through it, but the dog couldn't follow. Tight enough to pack densely, but loose enough for air circulation. Those chipmunks would watch the dog dance around the woodpile for hours, amusing themselves by showing up in various nooks and crannies, then diving back in.

Here in Minnesnowta we're in the midst of a gray squirrel "boom" cycle. No chipmunks in the city (at least, none in my neighborhood), but the squirrel population has exploded in the past couple of years. This usually ends with a "bust" part of the cycle, and some disease wipes out 50% of 'em. I can't wait for spring when I can start my own depopulation program on the bushy-tailed tree rats.

#13 Blackwing1 on 2013-03-19 11:45 (Reply)

If the contents of the rat trap are any guide, we've had standard issue rats chowing down on our tomatoes. I'm not sure what the chipmunks eat.

#14 James the lesser (Link) on 2016-08-29 21:17 (Reply)

We've had the same issue. Got a natural pepper spray, covered the plants, and the problem has ended. We spray at dusk each night.

#15 Bulldog on 2016-08-29 22:36 (Reply)

I saw one squeezing my prize raspberries with an outstretched paw, one after another until it found a ripe one, which it leapt upon to remove it from the branch. The little bugger proceeded to devour it like a corn cob.

#16 talnik on 2016-08-29 23:49 (Reply)

Rabbits are not rodents.

#17 tennesseered on 2016-08-30 08:59 (Reply)

The trick is to pick the tomatoes the day before they are ripe and let ripen on the windowsill as rodents are picky....

Major Lyme disease vectors (chipmunks and rabbits, along w voles, mice, etc.). Fortunately, I have a ferocious hunting ginger cat who has rid our yard and those of the neighbors nearby of them or terrorized them from coming near. Our pets wear those tick collars that we fondly hope keep the Lyme ticks from hitchhiking into the house after their pest control duties.... So no more trashing felines! The dog used to dig up chipmunks from their tunnels and eat them. They are cute but in other places, not my yard...

#18 Retriever on 2016-08-30 11:34 (Reply)

The French word for chipmunk is un tamia which is taken from the zoological word for their genus: Tamias.

And that word is actually the Ancient Greek word for a steward or housekeeper, a reference to their storing up food for the winter.

Quite appropriate.

#19 JJM on 2016-08-30 18:12 (Reply)

Here in Missouri we have a huge population of chipmunks this year as well. They are cute but have become very destructive eating through the bottom edge of our wooden garage and if you cover one part they just devour another section. Don't have the heart to do away with them but it's getting close. They have even collapsed the ground from giant group living quarters. They are also determined to undermine the root ball of a nice tree we planted last fall, nothing seems to deter them.

#20 JC on 2016-08-30 21:36 (Reply)

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Monday, August 29. 2016

Cute Rodent of the Week: Because they are taking bites out of all of my ripe tomatoes