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How to Catch a Chipmunk in the Attic
How to Catch a Chipmunk in the Attic. Being ground squirrels, chipmunks rarely find their way into attics. If you do find a chipmunk in the attic, it probably came inside on the ground floor, before panicking and running upstairs. With tree squirrels, you can often simply provide an escape route in the form of a rope or ramp leading to an open...
Being ground squirrels, chipmunks rarely find their way into attics. If you do find a chipmunk in the attic, it probably came inside on the ground floor, before panicking and running upstairs. With tree squirrels, you can often simply provide an escape route in the form of a rope or ramp leading to an open window and the animal will leave by itself. Chipmunks, however, are not great climbers, and you’ll probably need to use a humane trap.
Things You'll Need
Live trap for squirrels
Peanut butter
Close any open windows. As chipmunks are not the best climbers, if the chipmunk does try to leave this way, it might fall to its death.
Remove any loose objects that might provide hiding places, such as cardboard boxes, except the one in which the chipmunk is hiding. You have more chances of catching the chipmunk if your traps are the main hiding places. Removing its current hiding place will, however, make the chipmunk panic and you might get bitten as it scrambles to escape.
Bait one or more live traps for squirrels with peanut butter and position in corners or alongside walls.
Turn off any lights and draw blinds over the windows. Chipmunks feel more secure in the dark.
Close any doors or hatches leading to the attic.
Check the traps every hour. Once you have caught the chipmunk, release it elsewhere on your property, as far away from the house as possible.
Tips & Warnings
In the future, keep ground floor doors closed and fit screens over accessible windows to prevent any more chipmunks coming in. If you think the animal obtained access through a gap in the walls, seal with the appropriate building materials for your property or tack hardware cloth over it.
Releasing the chipmunk off your property, for example in a park, is inadvisable. There may be restrictions on the practice in your region and the chipmunk’s chances of survival are reduced, as it will need to compete with established chipmunk populations.
