Chipmunks are a part of the squirrel family. While they both have bushy tails, chipmunks tend to be smaller. They are also easily recognizable by their brown and black stripes.
While chipmunks are incredibly cute, they are also known to wreak havoc on people’s yards and homes. For example, most chipmunks make burrows, which can damage foundations, patios, and walkways. Additionally, chipmunks might disturb your garden by eating your vegetables and fruits.
If you are worried that you have a chipmunk problem, the easiest way to figure it out is by looking for animal droppings. Chipmunk droppings are similar to rodent droppings. They tend to be small, hard, dark, and resemble tiny grains of rice.
While identifying chipmunk droppings can help you determine if you have an infestation, there are other signs to look out for. You should inspect your yard for chipmunk burrows, which are holes in the ground that they use to store food, hibernate in, and protect themselves from predators. If you believe they are inside of your home, you can look for signs that they’ve been chewing on the food in your pantry.
It can be difficult to remove chipmunk infestations. Thankfully, Nuisance Wildlife Rangers are here to help. We can remove chipmunks from your property or home in a humane and ethical manner.
In this article, you will learn:
- How to spot chipmunk droppings
- What are the other signs of a chipmunk problem?
- Do chipmunks spread diseases?
- How can you solve a chipmunk problem?
How to Identify Chipmunk Poop: What Do Chipmunk Droppings Look Like?
If you find something that resembles rat droppings near or inside of your home, you might start to panic. While rat droppings might indicate a rodent infestation, you could be dealing with chipmunks instead. Chipmunk droppings often resemble rat poop or mouse poop.
Chipmunk droppings are approximately ½ to ¾ inches long and are slightly larger than mouse droppings. They are small, elongated, and have pointed ends. Chipmunk droppings tend to be dark brown and resemble beans or rice.
You will probably find chipmunk poop around lawns and patios. You might also find it near bird feeders or other sources of food that they are snacking on. That said, sometimes they create latrines inside of chipmunk holes, which means they might not always be visible to you.
What are the Other Signs of a Chipmunk Infestation?
Because you won’t always find chipmunk poop outside of their burrows, you need to be aware of the other signs of infestation. Chipmunks are attracted to food sources in people’s yards, like pet food, bird feeders, trees that produce nuts, or gardens that contain fruits and vegetables. You are more likely to find chipmunk poop in your yard if it has food sources they are attracted to.
Other signs of chipmunk infestations include:
- Burrows and Holes- Chipmunks dig extensive burrows and holes, especially near the foundations, sidewalks, and in yards or gardens. If you find holes in your yard, you might be dealing with a chipmunk issue.
- Raided Trash Cans- Chipmunks are known for raiding trash cans when they are hungry. If the lid is off of your trash can and holes are bitten into your garbage bags, you might have chipmunks.
- Damage to Gardens- Chipmunks like to eat flower bulbs, fruits, and vegetables. They might damage young shoots that you are growing.
- Structural Damage- The burrows that chipmunks create can damage structures on your property. They might also chew on wooden beams, insulation, and wires in your home.
- Chirping Sounds- When communicating with other chipmunks, these creatures make high-pitched chirping noises.
- Scurrying Noises- If there is a chipmunk living in your attic, you might hear scurrying or scratching noises coming from your ceiling or inside of your walls.
What are the Health Risks of Chipmunk Feces?
Like rat poop, you should never come into direct contact with chipmunk poop. Chipmunk poop could carry harmful bacteria and diseases like salmonellosis, hantavirus, and leptospirosis. Some of these diseases can infect both you and your household pets.
If you find chipmunk poop on your porch or inside of your home, you should wear a mask and wear disposable gloves while cleaning it. Treat chipmunk feces the same way you would fresh rat droppings. Doing so could prevent you from contracting a dangerous or life-threatening disease.
After removing the droppings, you should use a bleach solution and paper towels to clean the surface. Some diseases and bacteria can remain contagious even after the feces is removed. Using the proper protection by wearing gloves will keep you and your family safe.
How to Solve a Chipmunk Problem
If you are dealing with a rodent, rat, or chipmunk in your home or on your property, you should be extremely careful. Chipmunks can carry diseases like rabies, which means approaching them on your own could cause you to become infected.
Instead of trying to remove chipmunks on your own, you should contact a wild animal removal service like Nuisance Wildlife Rangers. We can come in, inspect the infestation, and trap chipmunks that are causing problems in your home or property.
Because we understand that every animal is important to the local ecosystem, we use humane and ethical approaches to removing chipmunks. Instead of harming them, we relocate them back into the wild or bring them to an animal sanctuary.
Get Connected to a Chipmunk Removal Service
If you live in a wooded area and find brown to black pellets that resemble chipmunk droppings, you might have an infestation. Thankfully, Nuisance Wildlife Rangers are here to help. We can remove chipmunks and any other animals from your property using an ethical approach.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can remove chipmunks from your property.
