You might have heard that chipmunks eat green vegetables. Moreover, you might see chipmunks in your garden often. Even they eat nuts, seeds, and forbs from the garden. Chipmunks in the garden or field is not harmful always.
They also disperse seeds into food caches across their territory. This way they encourage the growth of plants.
So, you might be confused about whether chipmunks eat flowers or not. Generally, animals that eat vegetables also eat flowers. So, let’s see about chipmunks in detail and know whether they can eat flowers or not.
Do chipmunks eat flowers?
Chipmunks eat flowers. Generally, they eat flowers, flower leaves, and bulbs. Moreover, chipmunks love to eat most types of flowers. Even, they will eat the flowers and leaves from pots. Besides, they help to grow the plants by dispersing seeds into food caches across their territory.
You might have heard that chipmunks eat everything from the plants in your garden. But this is not true. Chipmunks eat some specific parts of the plants. So, let’s see which parts of flower plants chipmunks eat.
Flower Bulbs:
Chipmunks eat flower bulbs. Especially, they love to eat tulip bulbs. Flower bulbs are the most common parts of the plant that chipmunks eat. Sometimes, you might have to take additional action to keep the chipmunks away from eating flower bulbs.
Flower Roots:
Chipmunks also eat flower roots. Generally, chipmunks eat the upper parts of the flower plants. But they also have burrowing activities. So, they also eat plant roots.
Flower Buds:
Chipmunks eat flower buds too. Though they love to eat bulbs and flower leaves, they also eat flower buds.
Flower Leaves:
Flower leaves are one of the common parts of flower plants that chipmunks eat. Chipmunks eat different flower leaves. But they don’t like the smell of all flowers. So, you might see them in specific flower gardens.
Flower Blossoms:
Chipmunks will also eat flower blossoms. Though chipmunks like to have the leaves of a flower, they also eat blossoms.
Flower Seeds:
Flower seeds seem to be lovable to chipmunks. They love to eat flowers that have seeds. So, you might see the destroyed flowers and seeds if the garden has chipmunks.
What flowers do chipmunks eat?
Chipmunks eat almost all flowers. But chipmunks don’t like the smell of all flowers. Some flowers contain elements that are harmful to chipmunks. Besides, some flowers have fragrant that attract chipmunks.
So, if you want to deter chipmunks from your garden, you have to know which flowers chipmunks eat. So, let’s see what flowers chipmunks eat.
Marigold Flowers:
Though chipmunks might not love to eat marigold flowers, they eat marigolds. Generally, chipmunks eat leaves and flowers of marigolds. But they might not like to eat the foliage.
Petunia Flowers:
Chipmunks will eat petunia flowers. Generally, petunia flowers have a spicy taste that attracts animals like chipmunks and squirrels. Though chipmunks don’t love to eat petunia flowers, they will eat petunia if they are hungry.
Annual Flowers:
Chipmunks don’t eat all annual flowers. Some annual flowers are pretty delicious to chipmunks. But they will not eat all annual flowers. For example, chipmunks will not eat Angelonia flowers. Besides, chipmunks don’t like the taste of Begonia.
But some annual flowers are suitable for chipmunks. For example, marigold and petunia are annual flowers that chipmunks will eat. Besides, chipmunks will also eat annual flowers like Scaevola, verbena, and occasionally rudbeckia and dusty miller.
Hibiscus Flowers:
Chipmunks love to eat hibiscus flowers. Even they might eat all the parts of this flowering plant. They eat the roots, bulbs, leaves, and flowers from the hibiscus flowers.
The hibiscus flower will not bloom well because chipmunks love to eat this flowering plant. So, they will eat regularly and prevent the plant from flowering.
Impatiens Flowers:
Chipmunks also eat impatiens flowers. Generally, chipmunks eat the flower plants and different parts of the plants at night. So, you will not notice them eating impatiens flowers.
But the reason behind the damage of impatiens flowers might be the chipmunks.
Sunflowers:
Chipmunks also eat sunflowers. Generally, chipmunks love to eat different parts of sunflowers. Chipmunks are well-known for eating sunflowers. Besides, chipmunks eat seeds of the sunflowers.
Tulip Flowers:
Tulip bulbs might be the favorite part of the tulip for chipmunks. Moreover, chipmunks also like to eat flowers, leaves, and blossoms of tulip. So, you might see the damage in the tulip garden because of chipmunks.
Vinca Flowers:
Generally, chipmunks don’t like to eat vinca flowers. They don’t like the taste of this flower. But if you see chipmunks eating vinca flowers, they might be hungry. But generally, they don’t cause damage in the vinca flower garden.
Zucchini Flowers:
Chipmunks eat zucchini flowers. Generally, chipmunks eat both zucchini and zucchini flowers. So, the taste and smell of zucchini might trigger them to eat zucchini flowers.
Roses:
Chipmunks will also eat roses. They might eat different parts of these plants. For example, chipmunks eat petals, roots, bulbs, and leaves of roses. So, if you have a rose garden, keep chipmunks away.
Otherwise, they will eat the plants and destroy the flowers.
3 reasons why chipmunks eat flowers:
Chipmunks eat many flowers. But they don’t like to eat all flowers. That means there must be some factors that lead chipmunks to eat flowers. So, let’s see some reasons why chipmunks eat flowers.
Taste habit:
Chipmunks have grown a taste habit of eating flowers from the very beginning. Generally, animals like chipmunks love to eat garden flowers and vegetables. So, they have habits of eating different parts of flowers when they are hungry.
Naturally, those animals need to eat whatever goes with their digestive system, so chipmunks develop of having flowers.
Help the plant growth:
You might know that animals help plants to grow with seeds. Chipmunks might not help like birds. But they also encourage the growth of plants. Generally, chipmunks help the plants by dispersing seeds into food caches across their territory.
Fragrance:
Generally, flowers have a specific fragrance that attracts animals. So, like many other animals, chipmunks are also attracted to the fragrance and eat flowers.
How to stop chipmunks from eating my flowers?
Chipmunks eat flowers and vegetables from the garden. Even they can damage the flowers, roots, and leaves. So, it’s pretty irritating letting the chipmunks eat flowers. So, you have to stop them. Let’s see how you can stop chipmunks from eating your flowers.
Clean your garden:
Sometimes, people throw food items, seeds, nuts, etc., that attract the chipmunks to come back in the flower garden. So, if you clean your flower garden, chipmunks will not come.
Moreover, you can keep an eye on whether chipmunks are eating flowers or not.
Keep fences:
When you put fences in your flower garden, it will prevent large and medium-sized animals to come into the garden. But if you put fences with small perforations, they will prevent the chipmunks to enter the garden.
Use chili powder:
You can sprinkle chili powder on the flower beds. This will prevent the chipmunks to enter the garden. But don’t sprinkle the chili powder directly on the flowers. Sprinkle on the flower bed and notice whether chipmunks come back or not.
Remove bird feeders:
Chipmunks might come back for bird feeders. Chipmunks like to eat bird seeds. So, they might come in search of a bird feeder but end up eating flowers. So, you can remove bird feeders from the flower garden.
Grow repellent plants:
Some plants are repellents for chipmunks. For example, garlic and onions are repellent plants. Chipmunks don’t like the scent of these plants and these are not suitable for chipmunks’ digestive systems. So, you can grow these plants to keep chipmunks away.
Do chipmunks damage flowers?
Yes, chipmunks damage flowers. If you have a flower garden, you might have seen chipmunks often in the garden. They like to eat different parts of flower plants. Moreover, they also eat the petals of flowers.
So, chipmunks will eat flowers if the flowering plant is not a repellent plant.
What is the natural deterrent for chipmunks?
Many deterrents are available for chipmunks. But you might want to use the natural deterrent for chipmunks. Because chemicals and other things might damage your flower bed or garden. So, here is a list of natural deterrents for chipmunks.
- Garlic
- Onion
- Pepper
- Chili powder
- Coffee grounds
- Essential oils
- Plant daffodils
Final Thoughts
Chipmunks love to eat flowers. Even they eat flower petals, leaves, roots, bulbs, and other parts of flower plants. But chipmunks don’t eat all flowers. Some flowers and flower plants have a taste that chipmunks don’t like. Moreover, some flowers might be repellent to them.