Something has gotten into the chipmunks this year. I don’t know if there are too many of them in a small area, or if they are still recovering from the long winter and are low on food sources, but they have all gone insane.
I’ve always had trouble with chipmunks, but this year it seems I can’t plant anything without it being dug up minutes or hours later. And the viciousness is starting to concern me. It used to be I’d find small holes one or two inches deep. The latest batch of scoundrels is digging 10-inch-deep holes, flinging plants up to two feet away from said holes and leaving huge piles of soil on the ground under my pots or next to my plants in the garden.
I’ve found many plants lying on top of the soil with their root plugs completely exposed to the sun. But some of them have been tossed about until their roots are almost (or in some cases fully) detached from the stem of the plant. And this year it’s not just the annuals that are taking a beating. The chipmunks seem enthralled with established perennials as well. They act as if I’ve hidden a pantry of food under every single plant in my garden.
At first I wanted to blame something larger like a raccoon or a woodchuck because the damage was so shocking for such tiny creatures, but we started live-trapping and relocating the chipmunks and the problem disappeared almost overnight. There were 2 weeks of almost complete peace and then it started up again around the time I started seeing a few chipmunks running around the yard again. I assume they migrated in from other areas.
None of my chewed-up lilies came back to life after last year’s slaughter. And the lilies that did survive last summer are now under attack. I found one thick stem lying on its side last week. Upon closer inspection I noticed it had been chewed and felled like a tiny tree. I was willing to give the chipmunks the benefit of the doubt. Maybe there’s a new insect attacking lilies. Nope. A few days later I watched a chipmunk run along one of my flowerbeds, stop next to a lily stem and sink his little chompers into it.
Time to for a new batch of beasts to pack their bags.