I am hoping someone can help me save my flowers this year. We are overrun with chipmunks and rabbits. They totally stripped all of my flowers last year and I heard that if you spray them with cayenne pepper they will not eat them ~ Well~ that didn't stop them. I sure hope someone has an answer for this problem.
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Helen, I tried cayenne pepper too without any success. Other remedies recommended to me that I've tried without any luck were sprinkling human hair over the plants, as well as blood meal. However, the thing that did work was cat hair! I brushed my cats and sprinkled their fur over the plants and the critters did not like that! If you think about it, it gives off the scent of a predator and I supposed that's why they then stayed away. Good luck!
I tried all of the above except for the cat hair. What I found effective was hot pepper wax which I purchased at a garden store.
Another tried and true method is to scatter mothballs around your plants. The rabbits and chipmunks won't bother any of your plants. The drawback is that the mothballs don't release a very pleasant fragrance!
There is nothing (I repeat, nothing) that will keep chipmunks permanently away from your bushes, plants, pots, and gardens. I've tried everything under the sun. The best product is Repels All, a granulated, organic substance that you sprinkle around (it will not hurt plants or gardens), that is a first choice of landscapers. Repels All will irritate their nasal passages after they've dug around in it for awhile, then they won't come back.
Anything you use will dissipate after a rain, so reapplications are mandatory, and unrelenting and diligent follow up. Chipmunks travel in groups or families, and they move in and out of your area as seeds become available (spring and fall). They will STAY in your area if you let them - if they find a good place to nest and burrow, there's no need for them to move on quickly.
My tried and true remedy has been setting rat/chipmunk traps with peanut butter, along with regular applications of Repels All. WARNING: Wear a mask or cover your nose/mouth with a towel when sprinkling it around. I've come away with a bloody nose more than once, and it always bothers my nose if I don't cover it up. The traps, which I buy at ACE Hardware, work great and are reusable.
I've caught up to 6/day with only two traps. Sometimes it's not a clean kill, though, and you'll have to fill a bucket with water and drown them. Take the traps in a night. Other animals will get a paw caught and drag it away for good.
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