Chipmunks and Squirrels

As you are putting up holiday decorations, doing some last minute outside repairs, or cleaning up around your yard, keep an eye out for two potential problems: squirrels and chipmunks. They can easily settle around and even inside your house for the winter, plus they can damage your plants.

Chipmunks burrow around areas where they are well hidden, such as wood piles, brush, basements, and garages. The damage these spunky little creatures can do is surprising. By tunneling under patios, retention walls, stairs or foundations, they can cause structural problems. They consume flower bulbs, seeds, seedlings, and even pet food.

Exclusion is the best way to manage chipmunk damage. Close all openings where chipmunks can enter the home with caulking or hardware cloth. Covering your landscape beds with this mesh will protect your bulbs and seeds. Spread soil over the hardware cloth.  Exclusion also is the best way to prevent damage.

Certain landscape features provide protection for chipmunks, such as ground covers and shrubs. These make it easy for chipmunks to gain entry to your home. Remove piles of debris and keep grass cut short. Modifying your landscape for the winter will keep chipmunk activity down.

Related to chipmunks, is the squirrel. This omnipresent rodent derived its name from the Greek word meaning “to shadow” referring to their big bushy tails. Once inside your home, they can damage insulation, walls, and electrical wires. Squirrels do damage because of their propensity to gnaw on structures.  Once inside they chew on insulation and electrical wires. This is dangerous as bare wires are a fire hazard.

Of less of a danger, but still a nuisance, is a squirrel’s relentless pillaging of bird feeders. Adding to the list of annoyances is their habit of damaging your landscape through their quest to find or hide their cache of nuts. They feed on seeds, mature fruit, and grains.  As squirrels clip shrubs and trees to build their nests, they make them susceptible to winter damage.

Exclusion is the first step. It is important to make certain no squirrel is inside your home before blocking entrances. Squirrels will do even more damage trying to get out. Baited box traps in an attic may catch a locked in squirrel. Lighting attic space has been a deterrent. Chemicals and repellents are costly and have shown only modest success.

Habitat modification is effective. Trimming trees six to eight feet from buildings will keep squirrels from jumping onto roofs. If they are attacking bird feeders, consider nailing an ear of corn to a fence post far away from the problem area. There are squirrel baffles and many kinds of squirrel resistant feeders on the market.

For more help on protecting your home and landscape from these four-footed nuisances, contact the Penn State Master Gardeners in Lackawanna County at 570-963-6842 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu and request the free publications on chipmunks and squirrels


Steve Ward
Master Gardener Coordinator

What’s Munching On My Garden And What Can I Do About It?

If you want to know what animal assaulted your apple tree or committed a felony on your tulips, you should learn crime-scene-investigation techniques. Gary San Julian, Penn State professor of wildlife resources, will kick-off a free online seminar series about those techniques at noon and at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7. The series of one-hour webinars about wildlife damage will continue on the first Monday of each month through May. You will learn how to recognize just who the culprit is and techniques for dissuading the attentions of some of the more persistent wildlife critters.

To view live and previously recorded webinars, all you need is a "Friend of Penn State” user ID, a high-speed Internet connection, and a computer with sound. To register and take part in the live webinars or to watch programs in the archives, visit the Pennsylvania Forests Web Seminar Center website (http://rnrext.cas.psu.edu/PAForestWeb/). If you do not already have a Friend of Penn State user ID, click “Register Now” on the Seminar Center website and it will walk you through the process.

Archived sessions will be available at the Seminar Center website, along with a copy of the presentation and any handout materials, so you can watch it at your convenience.

Other webinars scheduled in the Wildlife Damage series include:

• March 7: "Groundhogs -- the Good, the Bad, and the Funny."
• April 4: "The 'oles -- Give me a V, give me an M." This presentation is about voles and moles.
• May 2: "Squirrels and Chippies Acting Out."

For a list of free publications on a variety of Forest-related topics, call 800-234-9473, send an email to RNRext@psu.edu, or write to Forest Stewardship Program, Forest Resources Extension, The Pennsylvania State University, 416 Forest Resources Building, University Park, PA 16802.

For the full article about the Wildlife Damage webinars and other Forest Stewardship programs, go to http://live.psu.edu/story/51033#nw69, or contact your local extension office. In Lackawanna County call our garden help line at 963-6842 ext. 1377 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu



Terry Schettini
Extension Educator Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County

Uninvited Guests: Squirrels

With winter fading away (we hope!) now is a good time to implement some of the squirrel management methods described below so you will be ready for next winter … and deal with any current squirrel issues!

During the cold winter months, wildlife such as tree squirrels sometimes find their way into buildings and homes through loose siding or ventilation screens, looking for a place to nest. Once inside, they can damage walls, insulation, and tendency to chew. In most cases, these squirrels can be managed using IPM tactics that are safe and effective.

Step 1 Pest Identification
The first step in wildlife pest management is identifying what type of squirrel is causing damage to your property. The eastern gray squirrel can range in color from black to silver with a white belly. They are 16 to 24 inches in length. Gray squirrels can be found in any area that has nuts and seeds, including urban backyards. Flying squirrels are smaller than other tree squirrels, between 8 and 10 inches in length. They vary in color from gray to brown, and have broad webs of skin connecting the fore and hind legs at the wrists and a flattened tail that allows them to glide from tree to tree. Squirrels can be found anywhere there is an ample supply of nuts and seeds.

Step 2 Prevention
There are many ways to prevent squirrel damage:

• Make your property less hospitable to wildlife pests by keeping the property clean and maintained.
• Trim trees and limbs to 6 to 8 feet away from buildings to prevent squirrels from jumping onto roofs.
• Exclude squirrels from inside buildings by using caulking or mesh to seal up holes where small animals could gain entry.
• Install fences around plants, trees and gardens to reduce their source of food.
  Place birdfeeders 15 to 30 feet from buildings.
• Consider removing birdfeeders if squirrels are a problem.
  

Step 3 Controlling Squirrels Safely
There are very few repellants currently available for use on squirrels and have a very limited success rate. In addition, there are no fumigants or toxicants federally registered for use on squirrels. Try these IPM methods instead:

• Frightening – Frighten squirrels by using loud noises or lights in attics or closets where they are nesting.
• Trapping – Use wire-cage and box traps to capture squirrels alive, baiting the traps with orange or apple slices, walnuts and pecans removed from the shell, or peanut butter. Check the traps twice a day and release the squirrel once exclusion tactics are used to secure the building.

For more information on squirrels and other wildlife pests, go the PA IPM Program Problem Solver at http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/441.htm. Or contact your local cooperative extension office. In Lackawanna County ask for the Garden Help line at 963-6842 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu.

Terry Schettini, Extension Educator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
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