# Chipmunks return home? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401 "2004-06-03T04:39:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![VertexShader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@VertexShader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VertexShader)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/1 "2004-06-03T04:39:36Z")
My dad catches chipmunks in a little trap so he can release them elsewhere, keeping them away from his yard. He claims that the chipmunks can find their way back if you drop them off a mile away. He drives about 2-3 miles away before dropping them off. Is there any truth behind this? ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/2 "2004-06-03T05:13:41Z")
How does he know that the chipmunk he sees today is the one he gave a ride to yesterday? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/3 "2004-06-03T06:09:44Z")
> [@The King of Soup](#): > > How does he know that the chipmunk he sees today is the one he gave a ride to yesterday? The chipmunk is still carrying his suitcase. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/4 "2004-06-03T11:43:00Z")
The trick is to take their little maps away and then blindfold them. When you set them down spin them around several times until they’re dizzy before you take the blind fold off. Works like a charm. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/5 "2004-06-03T14:57:12Z")
[yelling over cockpit noise]Were here at an altitude of 15,000’ AGL to see if a chimpunk can find it’s way home from three miles away. Over the drop zone… He’s away! . . . Damn. The results may be inconclusive as our former tree dweller is now ground squirrel. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/6 "2004-06-03T20:25:26Z")
I have some questions. Why does your pa think the folks 3 miles away want chipmunks any more than he does? Relocating wild animals is just a very bad kind of littering. An empty BigMac box is ugly, but it won’t chew a hole in the nearest garage. Are they microchipmunks? If so, they can simply check MapQuest, and they’ll be home before you know it. Are they fish’n’chipmunks? They’ll just follow the aroma of boiling oil. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/7 "2004-06-03T20:37:59Z")
Don’t know about chipmunks, but a friend of mine was having a similar problem with squirrels. He was live-trapping them and driving them a couple miles away. His neighbor laughed at him and said he was wasting his time, so to demonstrate, he had my friend get a can of spraypaint and paint the tail on the squirrel he had just caught, then had him drop it off about ten miles away, across a river, no less. The squirrel was back two days later. Sorry not to have a cite for GQ, but at least I’m not making wisecracks. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/8 "2004-06-03T20:59:07Z")
> [@VertexShader](#): > > My dad catches chipmunks in a little trap so he can release them elsewhere, keeping them away from his yard. He claims that the chipmunks can find their way back if you drop them off a mile away. He drives about 2-3 miles away before dropping them off. > > Is there any truth behind this? Not sure about the homing abilities of chipmunks, but I’m a little puzzled about why your dad is trapping them. I’ve never thought of chipmunks as pests. Unlike gophers, they do almost no damage to a yard (they tend to burrow down, rather than horizontally, so all you ever see is a small entrance hole on the surface, usually hidden under a bush or woodpile). And unlike squirrels, they don’t end up nesting in your attic. Finally, if he successfully removes a female who’s got little ones back in the den, he’s condemning them to starving to death. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/9 "2004-06-03T21:04:52Z")
If he’ll cut off three of the chipmunk’s legs before releasing them it’ll take a lot longer than three days before they can hop back. Plus, they’ll be a lot easier to catch next time. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/10 "2004-06-03T23:58:29Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > If he’ll cut off three of the chipmunk’s legs before releasing them it’ll take a lot longer than three days before they can hop back. Plus, they’ll be a lot easier to catch next time. …or, left front leg and rear right leg, and we’ll have a perpetual circle maker. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/11 "2004-06-04T00:00:32Z")
> [@Early Out](#): > > Not sure about the homing abilities of chipmunks, but I’m a little puzzled about why your dad is trapping them. I’ve never thought of chipmunks as pests. Unlike gophers, they do almost no damage to a yard (they tend to burrow down, rather than horizontally, so all you ever see is a small entrance hole on the surface, usually hidden under a bush or woodpile). And unlike squirrels, they don’t end up nesting in your attic. > > Finally, if he successfully removes a female who’s got little ones back in the den, he’s condemning them to starving to death. What he’s calling chipmunks may be ground squirrels. Chipmunks live mainly in above ground dens (like hollow logs) and ground squirrels dig burrows (or so the guy at the county extension display told me.) Ground squirrels have done a lot of damage at my house by excavating under concrete pads and brick patios. I learned the hard way to put gravel under a concrete pad rather than sand. And while starving the little ones to death sounds cruel, the ones that get left in the field and don’t find their way home also either starve to death or get eaten by predators. And the little ones might very well starve to death anyway if a cat gets their mom. Life is a vicious battle. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/12 "2004-06-04T00:37:28Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > What he’s calling chipmunks may be ground squirrels. Chipmunks live mainly in above ground dens (like hollow logs) and ground squirrels dig burrows (or so the guy at the county extension display told me.) Chipmunks _are_ a type of ground squirrel, and they definitely don’t live above ground. [Here’s a good web page](http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/eastern_chipmunk.htm) about the little devils to which I’m referring. They’re exceedingly common around here, and I’ve managed to tame some of them over the years, to the point that they’ll come scampering up onto the deck, climb up my arm, and crawl into my shirt pocket, where they know the peanuts are kept. I suppose if you had very large numbers of them in a yard, they could be a problem, but I’d have to see it to believe it! Now, _groundhogs_ burrowing under your patio, deck, or front porch are another matter entirely. Their huge burrows can cause serious structural damage. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/13 "2004-06-04T02:22:15Z")
We gave a young possum to an animal relocator. She releases them on Mt. Pinnacle, a state park so they don’t become road kill. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/14 "2004-06-04T02:24:05Z")
> [@VertexShader](#): > > My dad catches chipmunks in a little trap so he can release them elsewhere, keeping them away from his yard. He claims that the chipmunks can find their way back if you drop them off a mile away. He drives about 2-3 miles away before dropping them off. > > Is there any truth behind this? Since [mice](http://www.pestcontrolcanada.com/Rodents/mice.htm) can find their way home over distances greater than a mile, I have no doubt that chipmunks can as well. However, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they could find their way home from a mere 2-3 miles away as well. How does he know the ones he dropped off are not coming back? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2004, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chipmunks-return-home/248401/15 "2004-06-04T05:42:02Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Since [mice](http://www.pestcontrolcanada.com/Rodents/mice.htm) can find their way home over distances greater than a mile, I have no doubt that chipmunks can as well. > > However, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they could find their way home from a mere 2-3 miles away as well. How does he know the ones he dropped off are not coming back? So, there you have it! Microchipmunks and Microsoft wireless mice!