August 28, 2025

Chipmunk Trap Extensions

This was a quick project to make some extensions for a Chipmunk trap.

I had a problem this year with Chipmunks digging holes all over my yard so to try and get rid of them I first tried some gas bombs. I stuck a lit bomb in the hole and used a leaf blower to inject it into their whole tunnel system…

…well I didn’t seal off the hole enough because the little bastard shot out of the hole and kicked off my leg in the process.

I then decided to buy a cheap Chipmuck live trap from Amazon to try and trap/relocate them. The only downside (from reading the reviews) is you can catch squirrels in these traps and I didn’t want to deal with them also.

I figured if I could make some extensions to this trap I could just place it over the holes without using bait and they would just catch themselfs while exiting their holes.  After a quick few measurements I jumped into CAD and designed up one side piece and a front.

While these parts are designed as solid pieces you can just use a few different processes in the slicer to print with no top or bottom layers and minimal infill to create an actual cage like finished piece.  (I only needed to design one side piece then then just mirror it while printing for the other side.)

Here are the finished printed pieces.

There are tabs on the side pieces that just lock onto the wire of the actual trap…

… and the front piece just sides into the grooves on the sides.

Here the extensions are connected to the trap. While it is possible for something small (like a mouse) to climb out of the cut out areas I doubt they will head for that point first.

Those cut outs are needed so the locking bar can slide into place to lock the trap when triggered.

Now once I find a new hole (the last chipmunk never came back after the gassing)…

… I just place the trap over the hole and wait.

Success! … wait that’s not a chipmunk!

I ended up catching a short tail Shrew… I never even heard of these things before.

While I’m waiting for new holes to appear the extensions can be dissembled and stored inside the trap.

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