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Living With
Chipmunks & 13-Lined Ground Squirrels in Dupage County
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 Chipmunks and ground squirrels are commonly mistaken for the same animal. However they both have distinguishing marks and different habits. The chipmunk has 5 dark brown lengthwise stripes from the head to its rump and runs with its tail straight up, looking like a remote control car zooming by. Chipmunks eat a variety of berries, nuts, and seeds and may occasionally climb a tree to find food. They may eat small animals, which include insects, earthworms, slugs, young mice and birds, and small frogs or snakes. Some chipmunks may hibernate while others will continue to be active throughout the winter. The 13-lined ground squirrel has 13 lines on its back from the head to rump. Some think they look like a peanut with short legs. They prefer open grasslands where they feed on equal amounts of animal and plant foods. Their diet includes insects, grasshoppers, moths and butterflies, earthworms, young birds and mice, seeds, fruits, nuts, roots and foliage. Towards the end of summer, the 13-lined ground squirrel will fatten up in preparation for hibernation. Here are some humane solutions to unwanted chipmunk and 13-lined ground squirrel situations.
Chipmunks and 13-Lined Ground Squirrels Living in Your Yard
- Do not encourage chipmunks or ground squirrels by feeding them.
- Do not allow spillage to accumulate outside bird feeders
- Use welded wire to exclude animals from underneath decks, elevated sheds, openings under concrete slabs and porches. Secure outside access to crawl spaces.
- See the “Chipmunk/Ground Squirrels in Your Yard” section for additional preventative techniques.
Preventing Problems with Chipmunks & 13-lined Ground Squirrels
Chipmunks prefer timber borderlands but have adapted to suburban neighborhoods where they will dig tunnels under shrubs and trees, flowerbeds, rocks or woodpiles, stone walls and under sidewalks and porches. Neatly manicured lawns, golf courses and cemeteries are excellent habitats for 13-lined ground squirrels, which prefer open grasslands. The holes to the tunnels are approximately 2” in diameter, both chipmunks and 13-lined ground squirrels will have multiple entrances to their burrow (chipmunks normally have 1 active entrance). Their tunnels can be up to 20’ to 30’ in distance, making it difficult to evict them.
Recommended Deterrent Techniques:
- Chipmunk and ground squirrels are easily frightened. Leave blown up beach balls in your yard. The wind will blow them around and frighten them. Place plastic bags on sticks in various spots in your yard for the same effect. Scarecrows and objects that move in the wind are also effective. However, the animals will grow used to these things and their effectiveness will fade.
- Place lighting (such as bright flashlights, flood lamp, blinking strands of holiday lights, etc.) in their burrow. It is best to leave the lights on 24 hours a day. If this is not possible, the lights must be on during the nighttime to disturb the animal’s sleep.
- Play a radio (portable alarm clock, noisy children’s toy, anything that plays music or makes noise repeatedly) either in or near their burrow. It is best to leave the lights on 24 hours a day. If this is not possible, the radio must be on during the nighttime to disturb the animal’s sleep.
- Place rags soaked in ammonia in the burrow for one week. Ammonia has an irritating smell. Over time the ammonia will dissipate and it is important to re-soak the rags on a daily basis. *VERY IMPORTANT* We do not recommend using ammonia soaked rags during baby season (March – August). It may injure infant wildlife, which are too young to escape.
- Deterrent techniques should be used for at least 7 – 10 days and it is important to use all the techniques at the same time in order for the deterrents to be successful.
- To determine if the animal has left the burrow, wad up newspaper and pack it into all of the burrow entrances (also helps hold in ammonia fumes). If the chipmunk/ground squirrel is still using the burrow, the newspaper will be pulled out. If after a few days the newspaper has not been disturbed, securely repair any access openings. Failure to do so may result in the chipmunk/ground squirrel or another animal moving in.
Chipmunks or 13-Lined Ground Squirrels Visiting Your Yard
Eating bulbs:
- Daffodils, squills, grape hyacinths and crown imperial bulbs are known to be distasteful to chipmunks and ground squirrels. The crown imperial has a horrible smell and below ground diners are known to avoid it. Interplant crown imperials among tulips and other “tasty” bulbs. Use chicken wire as a barricade by placing it on the flower bed surface, scatter a light layer of mulch or leaves over the chicken wire. Be sure to pick up bulb skin that flaked off during planting and spread a thick layer of mulch over the bulbs to remove any signs of recent planting. The chicken wire should be pulled up in early spring, so the bulbs can grow.
Gardens:
- Recommended taste deterrents are: mixing 2 tablespoons of hot sauce with 1 gallon of water, make a garlic puree and spray onto plants, or check with your local nursery or home center for commercial products. Taste deterrents will need to be reapplied after a heavy dew or rain. Place rags soaked in ammonia around planters to keep chipmunks/ground squirrels from eating plants.
Public Health Concerns
- Chipmunks and 13-lined ground squirrels are not considered to be a significant source for any infectious disease that can be transmitted to humans. Chipmunks and 13-lined ground squirrels may be carriers of rabies, although there have been no rabid chipmunks or ground squirrels in DuPage County in recent years.
What Not To Do
- Chipmunks and ground squirrels are not a protected species. However, there are strict trapping laws and trapping is not always the solution to the problem. Removing the animal creates an open space for another animal. Trapped adults may be leaving young behind to die of starvation in an inaccessible area. Focus on removing the attraction, not the animal.
- Please remember wild animals even for a very short time have specialized nutritional, housing, and handling needs that you are unlikely to be able to provide. Inexperienced individuals who attempt to raise/treat them inevitably produce an unhealthy, tame animal that cannot survive in its natural habitat
- Never move young from the burrow. Contact Willowbrook Wildlife Center for advice between 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM daily at (630) 942-6200.
- Do not use poisons. They are inhumane and may be illegal. They can result in secondary poisoning of raptors, wild scavengers and neighborhood pets.
When to Contact Willowbrook Wildlife Center
- If you come across a wild animal and are concerned, leave it alone. Call Willowbrook Wildlife Center at (630) 942-6200 for advice between 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM daily. Young wild animals are not like human babies. Their parents do not constantly watch them, and they spend large amounts of time alone or with brothers and sisters.
- Please call Willowbrook Wildlife Center before bringing an animal to the center between 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM daily. Call (630) 942-6200.
- Willowbrook is open daily from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
- If you find an animal with visible wounds and it is after Willowbrook’s business hours, please follow the instructions below:
- Place the animal in a box or animal carrier using heavy gloves, a broom or shovel.
- Keep in a dark quiet space, away from people & pets.
- Place a heating pad on low underneath ½ of the box/carrier.
- Do not feed. Improper food or drink can harm them.
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