How To Keep Chipmunks Out Of Strawberries

Do chipmunks like strawberries?

Figure 20. – Squirrel. Squirrels are excellent climbers and can reach the plants via telephone or electrical wires, or jumping from tree branches. Both ground ( Otospermophilus beecheyi ) and tree squirrels (Western gray squirrel Sciurus griseus and Eastern fox squirrel Sciurus niger ) enjoy foraging on the ground for vegetables and fruits.

• Ground squirrels primarily eat vegetable plants in the seedling stage, but they can consume entire young plants.
• The burrows of the ground squirrel can leave large mounds in garden or lawn and chew through any small tree roots or plant roots they encounter.
• Tree squirrels eat most soft vegetables and fruits grown in gardens, and tomatoes, strawberries and corn often see the worst damage.

Tree squirrels of all species love feeding on fruit and nut tree, and they eat both mature and immature fruits, Squirrels are also a nuisance when growing of strawberries, as they like to feed on ripe berries. For keeping them off from eating berries, wrap netting around the plants during fruiting.

1. Once harvested the strawberries, remove the netting, so the birds can eat any unwanted insect pests on the plants.
2. Active measures are needed to be taken in order to ensure that squirrels do not damage strawberry crop.
3. Modify the habitat surrounding to strawberry patch to make it less desirable to squirrels.

Remove bird feeders, clean up brush piles and keep tight lids on outdoor trashcans. Trapping is often necessary to remove squirrels from residential structures. Effective baits include fruit, peanut butter, nuts, seeds and vanilla extract. Eastern chipmunk ( Tamias striatus ) is a small, brownish, ground-dwelling squirrel, have short, pointy head marked with two white stripes, one above and one below the eye, five black lines with white striping down to the back ( Figure 21 ), and holds food with the front feet.

Chipmunks have an omnivorous diet primarily consisting of seeds, nuts and other fruits, and buds. They also commonly eat grass, shoots and many other forms of plant matter as well. Around humans, chipmunks can eat cultivated grains and vegetables, and other plants from farms and gardens, so they are sometimes considered pests.

Chipmunks mostly forage on the ground, but they climb trees to obtain nuts. Fruits and vegetables also make up the chipmunk’s diet, and they often seek out strawberries, blackberries and other berries that grow close to the ground. Chipmunks can be pretty cute, but the cuteness fades quickly when they begin to destroy the strawberry harvest.

Is there a chipmunk repellent?

Repellants – There are no repellents registered for use on chipmunks. Commercial repellents that promise to repel squirrels will also repel chipmunks. Bulbs soaked in a thiram-based repellent before planting may deter chipmunks. You can also simply use daffodils (Narcissus) or Allium for spring planting—these bulbs are usually not eaten by wildlife.

What can chipmunks not resist?

How to Get Rid of Chipmunk Problems with Proper Trap Baiting – Properly baiting a chipmunk trap is important. Did you know that chipmunks are peanut butter connoisseurs? They even enjoy a morsel of cheese now and then. Other effective chipmunk bait includes prune pits, unroasted peanuts, corn, sunflower seeds, cereal, grains and popcorn.

How do you store fruit when you have mice?

Mice: 5 Ways to Reduce Your Kitchen’s Attraction Factor Seems Last week it was all about how they added to the Hallowe’en ambiance. This week? How they’ll eat you out of house and home, or at the very least leave their little offerings of poop so that you can’t eat your food anyway.

• warm
• dry
• near a water source
• safe from cats, rats, weasels and ratter dogs
• lots of cracks and crevices in which to scurry, hide and travel from room to room without being seen
• and last but not least, an abundant food supply

In fact, it’s this last one that will make or break your efforts to keep the mouse population at bay in your rural home. I think the whole time I lived in the city (20 plus years), I think we had mice maybe once. Then there was the old house that had rats in the walls but that’s another story.

1. Overall, it wasn’t an ongoing problem.
2. So when we moved to our little homestead in the forest, I had no idea what I was in for. None.
3. So naive, so, so naive It started slowly.
4. We moved in in April, so the weather was warming and the mice were moving outside anyway.
5. But the house had been empty for quite some time before we started our renovations.

Then it was another 6 months of us just being there during the day, painting and refinishing floors. And it’s a log cabin, with lots of little cracks and ways for mice to get inside. So basically, it was their home. Period. That fall was when it hit me square between the eyes – we were sharing our home with a mama mouse and her babies.

1. Which sounds sort of cute until you find their poop all over your kitchen counter (gross, gross, gross!).
2. And they nibble big holes out of your expensive organic avocados, rendering them inedible for fear of some horrible rodent-spewed epidemic.
3. The weirdest thing they ever ate was a jalapeno pepper.
4. A jalapeno pepper!!! I can’t even eat a whole jalapeno Crazy.

So I learned quickly that there are a few things that will reduce the attractiveness of your kitchen to your little four-legged friends. Here are a five to get you started :

1. Check your cupboards (even the upper ones) for any holes that could allow a mouse to get inside. I’m talking the size of a dime and sometimes less, depending on the size of the mouse. If you find a hole or crack, fill it with a bit of steel wool or caulking, or seal it up with some sort of attractive trim.
2. Put all grains, flour and other staples into glass jars or canisters, sealed tight (yes, even if they are in the sealed cupboards – you just never know).
3. Place all fruit or any food left out on the counter in a metal mesh bowl with a lid. At the very least wrap them in thick produce storage bags so the smell won’t emanate (at least not so strongly). Caveat: I’ve had mice chew right through those bags to get to a ripe banana. Not mouse-proof, but mouse-resistant.
4. Make sure all your dishes are washed before you go to bed, or at the very least rinsed well. Any food left on dishes is gourmet to a mouse. Yummy! Also be sure to wipe down the counters with a vinegar/water solution (one part vinegar to 4 parts water should do it) or your favourite kitchen counter cleaner. Any smell of food will lure them in like ribs grilling at a tailgate party.
5. Vacuum and sweep – a lot! If you’ve got children (or a messy spouse), check their seats and the floor for crumbs after meals. Preferably after they get up. Those little bits of food you see on the floor? They could feed a whole mouse family. And keep them coming back for more. For-ev-er.

Of course, the best fix is to figure out how they’re getting into your house and sealing up the access points, but if you live in a ‘holey’ old house, that can prove challenging. But if you put these five fixes into action, it should reduce the attractants in your home for the mice, and they might move on.

Does lemon juice keep mice away?

Citrus oils – Mice are very sensitive to odours, and citrus oils smell mice hate. Mice do not like the smell of citrus oils and will avoid areas where they smell them. Citrus oils are frequently used as a natural repellent for mice, but there are other ways to keep mice away from your home.

Mice hate citrus oil smells because they contain limonene, which is found in lemons, oranges and grapefruits. Limonene is also found in many cleaning products such as soaps, detergents and disinfectants. It is this chemical that makes these products smell so fresh and clean when you use them around your house or office.

Citrus oils such as lemon and orange are also very effective at keeping mice away from an area or object. However, because citrus oils are so strong, you should use them sparingly or dilute them with water before applying them to an area or object that needs treatment.

Do house mice like strawberries?

Healthy treats for mice (to be fed in small amounts): –

Pasta, cooked or rawA variety of fruits and vegetables including broccoli, curly kale, strawberries and grapesSmall amount of boiled eggsPulses and cerealsFresh mealworms – one or two at a time, unless your dry food already has these includedApple wood – or other fruit tree wood – to gnaw onDried herbs. There are many mixtures available from pet stores such as mountain and garden mixDog biscuits such as gravy bonesMillet seed spray for birds

Water supplements, fatty or colourful chew sticks and mineral and salt blocks are unnecessary and can in some cases be harmful. Avoid these and stick to healthy, natural treats and food options.