If you’re a gardener, you’ve probably wondered, do chipmunks eat plants? The answer is a definitive yes, and understanding their diet is key to managing your woodland garden. These striped visitors are primarily herbivorous woodland creatures, but their feeding habits are more complex than they first appear.
Seeing a chipmunk can be charming, but it can also mean trouble for your seedlings and bulbs. Their constant foraging supports their high-energy lifestyle, but it can leave your garden looking raided. Let’s look at what they eat and how you can protect your plants.
Do Chipmunks Eat Plants
Chipmunks are omnivores, but the bulk of their diet comes from plant matter. They eat a wide variety of garden offerings, which makes them a significant consideration for any gardener.
Favorite Plant-Based Foods in Your Garden
Chipmunks are opportunistic feeders. They will target the most tender and accessible parts of your plants. Here’s what’s often on their menu:
- Seeds and Grains: They love sunflower seeds, birdseed from feeders, and newly planted grass seed.
- Bulbs and Tubers: Crocus, tulip, and lily bulbs are dug up and eaten, especially in fall when they’re storing food.
- Fruits and Berries: Strawberries, raspberries, and even tomatoes are often nibbled.
- Seedlings: Tender young plants of beans, peas, and squash are vulnerable to being clipped off at the stem.
- Flowers and Buds: They sometimes eat petals and unopened flower buds from plants like roses and daylilies.
Why Chipmunks Behave This Way
Their plant-heavy diet is driven by instinct and need. Chipmunks don’t hibernate but enter torpor, waking periodically to eat from their stored food. To survive winter, a single chipmunk must gather thousands of seeds and nuts. Your garden is a convenient, high-quality grocery store for this mission.
They have cheek pouches that allow them to carry large amounts of food back to their burrows. This efficiency means they can strip a area surprisingly fast. Its a behavior that’s essential for their survival but frustrating for us.
Non-Plant Items They Also Eat
While plants dominate, chipmunks are not strictly vegetarian. This protein helps them thrive. Their diet also includes:
- Insects and grubs
- Small frogs or salamanders
- Bird eggs and nestlings (occasionally)
- Fungi and mushrooms
Signs Chipmunks Are Eating Your Plants
How can you tell if chipmunks are the culprits? Look for these telltale signs:
- Small, neat holes dug in flower beds or near bulbs. These are often about two inches in diameter.
- Missing seedlings or plants clipped at the base. The cut is usually clean, unlike the ragged tear left by slugs.
- Partially eaten fruits and vegetables with small teeth marks.
- Piles of empty seed hulls near foundations or garden walls.
- Disturbed mulch where they’ve been foraging for seeds or burying food.
Protecting Your Garden from Chipmunk Feeding
You don’t have to surrender your garden. A combination of strategies is most effective. Persistence is more important than any single trick.
1. Physical Barriers and Exclusion
This is the most reliable method. It involves putting a physical block between the chipmunk and your plants.
- Bulb Cages: Plant bulbs inside wire mesh cages buried in the soil. This allows roots and stems to grow but protects the bulb itself.
- Hardware Cloth Cloches: Use wire mesh to cover newly planted seed beds or seedlings until they become established.
- Fencing: Bury a fine-mesh hardware cloth at least 10 inches deep and 12 inches outward in an L-shape around prized garden sections to prevent digging.
2. Strategic Plant Selection
While chipmunks will eat many things, some plants are less appealing. Incorporating these can reduce damage.
Consider planting more of these less-favored varieties:
- Bulbs: Daffodils, alliums, fritillaria, snowdrops
- Perennials: Lavender, salvia, bleeding heart, foxglove
- Herbs: Mint, rosemary, thyme (their strong scents can deter)
3. Habitat Modification
Make your yard less inviting by removing the things that attract and shelter them.
- Clear away woodpiles, rock walls, and dense ground cover near garden beds.
- Keep bird feeders far from gardens or use chipmunk-proof feeders that catch falling seed.
- Harvest ripe fruits and vegetables promptly so they aren’t left as a buffet.
4. Natural Deterrents
These methods rely on scent or taste to encourage chipmunks to feed elsewhere.
- Spray Repellents: Use commercially available or homemade sprays with ingredients like cayenne pepper or garlic on plants. Reapply after rain.
- Predator Scents: Granules with fox or coyote urine can create a perimeter of fear. Their effectiveness can vary.
- Motion-Activated Sprinklers: These startle animals with a sudden burst of water, conditioning them to avoid the area.
Living Alongside Herbivorous Woodland Creatures
Complete eradication is neither practical nor ecologically desirable. Chipmunks play a role in soil aeration and seed dispersal. The goal is balance, not war.
Creating a designated “sacrificial” area with sunflowers or a small patch of clover away from your main garden can sometimes draw them away from your prized plants. Providing a water source elsewhere might also help keep them from nibbling on juicy fruits for moisture.
FAQ: Chipmunks and Your Garden
Are chipmunks good for anything in the garden?
Yes, they do provide some benefits. Their burrowing aerates the soil, and they help with seed dispersal for some native plants. They also eat insect pests like grubs and slugs.
What’s the difference between a chipmunk and a squirrel’s diet?
While both eat plants, squirrels cause more damage to tree bark, mature fruits, and are more likely to raid bird feeders aggressively. Chipmunks focus more on seeds, bulbs, and small plants at ground level.
Do chipmunks eat vegetable plants?
Absolutely. They are known to eat peas, beans, corn, squash, and leafy greens, especially when the plants are young and tender. Protecting seedlings is crucial.
Will they eat all my flowers?
Not all. They have preferences, often targeting bulbs like tulips and crocus. They tend to leave daffodils, marigolds, and geraniums alone due to their taste or scent.
What time of day are chipmunks most active?
Chipmunks are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day, particularly in early morning and late afternoon. This is when you’ll see the most foraging activity in your garden.
Managing chipmunks is about smart gardening. By identifying their favorite foods, using protective barriers, and making your garden less appealing, you can significantly reduce the damage. Remember, a few chipmunks can be part of a healthy garden ecosystem—it’s when their numbers grow unchecked that problems arise. With these strategies, you can enjoy their antics without sacrificing your harvest.