2017+ chipmunk population decline
- Thread starter dfattack
- Start date
I have almost doubled the numbers of them here this yr from last yr, BUT my Grey squirrel numbers are about a 1/3 of what I had all winter, since about April they been going MIA fast here
never had that happen in all my yrs, and honestly I am GLAD< I was up to about 25 at once here all winter and now down to about 6 or so at most at one time now
I can see many times 6-8 chipmunks at a time here this yr, last yr, MAYBE m,ax of about 4 and then the wars would happen and chasing non stop for territory, this yr there seems to be so many they ain't fighting as much for space
its also a slower yr for bears here for me, Normally by this time I have about 12 or so, and so far this just 8 different one's I can ID
been having one rather large male (500+ lb range male) dogging a female all week, she's been playing hard to get too, she likes to come on my deck to HIDE from him, as for what ever reason he's scared to come up on my deck and she know's it
she will lay there an hr or so and he will pace back and forth grunting at her to come down
Both bears are what I call my regulars, they been coming to my yard now about 9 or 10 yrs each now, she has had 3 liters of cubs so far, so she is maybe about 12 yrs old and NOT sure on him, he did get caught in a state bear trap recently and got tagged, been trying to read its ear tag number and call in the # if I can , as if they pulled a tooth when they tagged him, I will be able to get a pretty accurate age, and of course weight of when he was tagged, tags are new this yr, he didn;t have them before denning up for winter, so he will be a little heavier now than when weighted after winter denning, but he's a big one for sure, he has a almost identical twin brother too, that is same size as he is I see often here!
and here are a few pic;s of him and her and a different female with just one cub this spring!
I average about 19 different bears in my YARD every yr, some more, some less, but an average of 19 is the norm per yr , for the past 20+ yrs, and have had ZERO damage from them too
we seem to get along pretty well here with them! and glad too, as there big powerful critters and can do damage if they wanted I am sure!
never had that happen in all my yrs, and honestly I am GLAD< I was up to about 25 at once here all winter and now down to about 6 or so at most at one time now
I can see many times 6-8 chipmunks at a time here this yr, last yr, MAYBE m,ax of about 4 and then the wars would happen and chasing non stop for territory, this yr there seems to be so many they ain't fighting as much for space
its also a slower yr for bears here for me, Normally by this time I have about 12 or so, and so far this just 8 different one's I can ID
been having one rather large male (500+ lb range male) dogging a female all week, she's been playing hard to get too, she likes to come on my deck to HIDE from him, as for what ever reason he's scared to come up on my deck and she know's it
she will lay there an hr or so and he will pace back and forth grunting at her to come down
Both bears are what I call my regulars, they been coming to my yard now about 9 or 10 yrs each now, she has had 3 liters of cubs so far, so she is maybe about 12 yrs old and NOT sure on him, he did get caught in a state bear trap recently and got tagged, been trying to read its ear tag number and call in the # if I can , as if they pulled a tooth when they tagged him, I will be able to get a pretty accurate age, and of course weight of when he was tagged, tags are new this yr, he didn;t have them before denning up for winter, so he will be a little heavier now than when weighted after winter denning, but he's a big one for sure, he has a almost identical twin brother too, that is same size as he is I see often here!
and here are a few pic;s of him and her and a different female with just one cub this spring!
I average about 19 different bears in my YARD every yr, some more, some less, but an average of 19 is the norm per yr , for the past 20+ yrs, and have had ZERO damage from them too
we seem to get along pretty well here with them! and glad too, as there big powerful critters and can do damage if they wanted I am sure!
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lucky you you prob a,nice fox family who moved in .less,mice also?
I would suspect more likely hawks over foxes, or maybe weasels/minks
as I have a LOT of foxes here and never seen them catch a squirrel or chipmunk, they do catch a lot of my rabbits however!
Foxes are mroe night time feeders, which is why I say this!
as I normally have 2-3 foxes at a time in my yard off and on ALL night, yet very rarely see them in day light here,
THEN AGAIN<
I have Grey foxes, NOT reds
and when hunting down the farms I be on, I see Reds all the time catching squirrels, even had a whole bunch of trail cam pic's of them running by with a big grey fox in there mouth's
but never a chipmunk, hawks I have seen grab and go on them while hunting!
as I have a LOT of foxes here and never seen them catch a squirrel or chipmunk, they do catch a lot of my rabbits however!
Foxes are mroe night time feeders, which is why I say this!
as I normally have 2-3 foxes at a time in my yard off and on ALL night, yet very rarely see them in day light here,
THEN AGAIN<
I have Grey foxes, NOT reds
and when hunting down the farms I be on, I see Reds all the time catching squirrels, even had a whole bunch of trail cam pic's of them running by with a big grey fox in there mouth's
but never a chipmunk, hawks I have seen grab and go on them while hunting!
dfattack
Well-known member
I really don't know what has happened. I used to have so many around my house. I used to carry peanuts in my pocket when doing outside work because they would follow me around until i gave them some. We typically leave peanuts on the deck for them and if they run out in the morning they would climb the screen door in our bedroom looking inside trying to wake me up. I kinda like the little guys. My wife calls them my "amigos". 
As far as predators, we do have mink. I haven't seen them for a few years however and I can't see the occasional mink wiping out 90% of the population. We are on a wooded lot out on a peninsula in between two lakes so we don't have many predators out here. Of course the deer are all over the place eating my landscaping.
I started this thread thinking someone on here may study these critters for school. I left the message about white birch a few months back and had an awesome reply so I figured I'd give it a shot.
As far as predators, we do have mink. I haven't seen them for a few years however and I can't see the occasional mink wiping out 90% of the population. We are on a wooded lot out on a peninsula in between two lakes so we don't have many predators out here. Of course the deer are all over the place eating my landscaping.
I started this thread thinking someone on here may study these critters for school. I left the message about white birch a few months back and had an awesome reply so I figured I'd give it a shot.
have you contacted your local game warden, maybe they know something, of maybe an illness in your area that is effecting themI really don't know what has happened. I used to have so many around my house. I used to carry peanuts in my pocket when doing outside work because they would follow me around until i gave them some. We typically leave peanuts on the deck for them and if they run out in the morning they would climb the screen door in our bedroom looking inside trying to wake me up. I kinda like the little guys. My wife calls them my "amigos".
As far as predators, we do have mink. I haven't seen them for a few years however and I can't see the occasional mink wiping out 90% of the population. We are on a wooded lot out on a peninsula in between two lakes so we don't have many predators out here. Of course the deer are all over the place eating my landscaping.
I started this thread thinking someone on here may study these critters for school. I left the message about white birch a few months back and had an awesome reply so I figured I'd give it a shot.
OR could be as simple as just a off yr for them there, as if your somewhat land locked, harder for numbers to grow from newbie, moving out from there home range to find a new one
I too feed mine peanuts, them little suckers will follow me all day long begging for more and more
the smarter one, stay and wait to get 3 off me before running back to where ever they store them
if I could I would gladly ship you some of mine, as this yr, its crazy with how many are here, and even odder, I never seen them den for the winter I had them out ALL yr here this past winter!
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get a cat LOL
I have heard of some folks having luck with BUYING a bottle of Fox Urine and then spraying it about the base of the house, bvut that opens a different issue with SMELL in the hot weather
but some swear by it?
let me know how many you want and i will ship them down.
i will also be very happy to toss in a half dozen squirrels free of charge!
-john
x2 !
dfattack
Well-known member
Good idea. This isn't driving me crazy or anything but it's still weird not to see them or hear them. That's why asking others.
Darren Chipmunks are gone here too I think the April blizzard may have took them out. We usually have 2 doe that drop fawns and stash their babies on my property and they are no shows this year too after 15 years. I think coldest April on record and blizzard killed a lot of critters in our area. DNR live trapped our black bears and moved years ago and I miss them but freaked the neighborhood. Lol
Grant Hoar
New member
New research has shown chipmunks are a favorite delicacy of Bigfoot. You might start seeing Tracker around instead.
Chipmunks are just big foot scoobie snacks LOL
dfattack
Well-known member
they may be like little peanuts to them. I really think bigfoot's favorite meal is a pasty.
Meanwhile, look who we have in my neighborhood:
[click thumbnail for larger image]
That's a purty healthy lookin 'yote — well not quite my neighborhood,
but seen in North Central Phoenix, AZ, right about here:
[click thumbnail for larger image]
on Wednesday, June 30, about 10:30AM.
[click thumbnail for larger image]
That's a purty healthy lookin 'yote — well not quite my neighborhood,
but seen in North Central Phoenix, AZ, right about here:
[click thumbnail for larger image]
on Wednesday, June 30, about 10:30AM.
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NOT to get off topic, and sorry to the OP
But Coyotes are expanding far and wide and are common place in many city's these days, they have adapted to human growth better than many other things
BUT main reason is, they are just looking for food, humans are easy meals between trash/food s they waste, to planting gardens that attract things they eat (rabbits, squirrels, birds, and well CATS)
a huge study done here in PA showed that Cat's make up almost 50% of the diet of coyotes
there one of the few animals I ever see in my YARD< but behind my place I see them all the time, I think all my bears/coons and even foxes here, compete too much for there liking, and just don't want the added drama LOL
But Coyotes are expanding far and wide and are common place in many city's these days, they have adapted to human growth better than many other things
BUT main reason is, they are just looking for food, humans are easy meals between trash/food s they waste, to planting gardens that attract things they eat (rabbits, squirrels, birds, and well CATS)
a huge study done here in PA showed that Cat's make up almost 50% of the diet of coyotes
there one of the few animals I ever see in my YARD< but behind my place I see them all the time, I think all my bears/coons and even foxes here, compete too much for there liking, and just don't want the added drama LOL
snolover55
Member
Get a small live trap. I caught almost 2 dozen here last year. Just used a half roasted peanut to bait the trap. Located it wherever I found a tunnel hole. Easy to catch. I've only seen one around here so far this year.
live traps do wrok and are easy to use
BUT if you do catch some and plan to release else where make sure you go a mile away or more
I was having so many squirrels here, I started trapping and moving them, first about a 1/4 mile then a 1/2 then a mile and I was using FOOD dye to mark colors on them to see if they would come back and MOST all did , some at a mile or more away?
NOT sure HOW they do it, but many critters are known to be able to find there way back to there home range
some bears here have been tagged and relocated over a 100 miles away and showed back up a few weeks later? LOL
and the last one they moved on me, was a 600+ lb male, 80 miles away he went and came back ifor mating season a few months later(lots of female bears here, so, the lure of love and home range had him motivated I guess , LOL, as that's a long walk for a big fat guy!)
BUT if you do catch some and plan to release else where make sure you go a mile away or more
I was having so many squirrels here, I started trapping and moving them, first about a 1/4 mile then a 1/2 then a mile and I was using FOOD dye to mark colors on them to see if they would come back and MOST all did , some at a mile or more away?
NOT sure HOW they do it, but many critters are known to be able to find there way back to there home range
some bears here have been tagged and relocated over a 100 miles away and showed back up a few weeks later? LOL
and the last one they moved on me, was a 600+ lb male, 80 miles away he went and came back ifor mating season a few months later(lots of female bears here, so, the lure of love and home range had him motivated I guess , LOL, as that's a long walk for a big fat guy!)