Ground squirrel or chipmunks

[Robert]

We live in a 15 year old singlewide with no permanent foundation next to some woods and pasture. Over the years we have had chipmunks burrow in the ground and gaps between the soil and skirting and take up residence under our mobile. They love to chew things including the telephone wires ( had to have them replaced before).

Any suggestions on how to get rid of these pest would be appreciated.

[David Oxhandler]

You can treat this problem with chemicals that will repel or even kill the pests. Or you can use a barrier of concrete skirting that continues below the ground line BUT The easiest thing to do is to adopt a cat. Once a cat takes up residence they will keep an area of about a hundred feet around you home free of rodents. The cat will be less expensive than replacing the skirting and an lot more friendly to your family than poisons and chemicals.

[Curiosity kills the cat]

David,
I am curious. How many cats are needed to rid these criters in a park?
Can every tenant have a cat to do the job or is there another way to handle this problem.

[Shea]

Here's what we did (funny but true!):
Several years ago, I lived on the edge of town and had a similar problem! Only OURS was a mother raccoon with three or four babies, and she had chosen to nest and nurse under our home, specifically under my bedroom...
For obvious reasons, no one was anxious to crawl in there after them, or use a mechanical trap (inhumane? I can’t remember)…
We tried everything. We even put a boombox down there,leaving it on 24/7 in hopes the noise would drive her away. Nothing worked (and the constant background radio noise certainly didn't help me sleep at night)…
About three or four weeks into this nightmare (she’d come out in broad daylight, linger in the front yard and driveway, face us with no fear, even brazenly topple our garbage can to forage through the contents, while we stood there and watched!), my teenage neice’s boyfriend saved the day:

He took a few colored ‘smoke bombs’ (the 4th of July novelty things you can buy EVERYWHERE in mid-summer) and lit them, setting three on different foil pie tins under our house.
It was quite desperate and hilarious. Purple and orange smoke roiled out from under the skirting (we had left several panels adjar)… Neighbors were staring…

Within the next 10 minutes, “momma” had relocated herself and her babies to the woods behind our lot (carrying them one at a time – never seen such a site before, and she was TRUCKIN!)…

They never returned! I don’t know if it was the smell of the harmless little smoke bombs,or the thick smoke, or both, but whatever it was, it worked for us…

Shea Ryan
Central Illinois

[David Oxhandler]

I don't think I would recommend tossing incendiary devices under most homes.