CANTON ‒ If you have been seeing more chipmunks near your yards and gardens this year, you aren’t alone.

And it was expected, says the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

“2025 was an exceptionally hard mast year for trees in Ohio which means a surplus in food for small rodents like chipmunks,” said Monika Bowman, wildlife communications specialist for the state agency. “More food leads to more chipmunks in a cyclical nature that we expect to see.”

A mast year is when trees and other plants, such as oak drop more acorns and other seeds, which are a main source of food for chipmunks.

Chipmunks also reproduce twice a year.

“Unlike some other small rodents, chipmunks have two mating seasons,” Bowman said. “We’re coming up on the second one at the beginning of summer, so more chipmunks would be in gardens to prepare.”

Chipmunks can damage homes and gardens. They love to burrow in mulch and under logs, said Curtis Daye of Canton-based Day & Night Pest Control.

“The best thing to do to prevent animals like chipmunks from getting into your yard is to get it treated early with granular deterrents,” Daye said. “It’s safer for the yard and the chipmunks, too.”

These deterrents include plant-based remedies like peppermint and capsaicin, which can also be used to prevent chipmunks in your yard if getting it treated isn’t an option.

Chipmunks love birdseed

One food that really attracts chipmunks is birdseed.

“They really love birdseed. Chipmunks see it and say, ‘Thanks for the buffet,’” Bowman said.

Interestingly though, birds don’t need birdseed to feed on during the summer months as they can consume insects and native plants, “but if you are going to use it, add in a spicy mix to prevent chipmunks from eating it, too,” Bowman recommended.

ODNR also suggested using birdhouses on metal posts that chipmunks can’t climb.

The discovery of 16 siblings who authorities say were held at a rural Ohio home for years in squalid conditions is straining the county’s resources as it works to prosecute their parents and two grandparents and provide care to so many children at once.

The local prosecutor said the cost of medical care required for one of the defendants alone would have bankrupted Vinton County, which led the court to change the grandfather’s bond and release him from jail on his own recognizance for care at a hospital so the county didn’t have to pay for it. Meanwhile, the county sought help from other prosecutors on the criminal case and is counting on approval next week of $1 million from the state to assist with care for the children, including some who have medical needs or are unable to speak.

Vinton is Ohio’s smallest county and one of its poorest, a rambling 415 square miles (1075 square kilometers) of isolated Appalachian terrain with one traffic light and a single grocery store. That makes the case of the Siders family “an unprecedented child welfare crisis” there, state officials said.

Affording it is requiring the actions of both local and state officials.

On Tuesday, 73-year-old Gary Siders Sr. was released from jail after his bond was adjusted to not require up-front payment, and he was moved out of the county for medical care.

Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer Jr. said Siders had fallen at the jail and it became apparent that he “has a serious medical condition that requires specialized care.” In the regional jail, the costs of that care would fall on the county, Archer said.

“Based on the information the county was provided, his medical care could potentially bankrupt Vinton County,” Archer told reporters Wednesday. “We were not going to put that burden also on our local taxpayers.”

Siders is charged with felony child endangerment. Also charged were his 67-year-old wife, Christina Siders; son Gary Siders Jr., 36; and daughter-in-law, 33-year-old Elizabeth Siders, the children’s mother. They have pleaded not guilty, and some of their attorneys cautioned against drawing conclusions before more is known about what happened.

Vinton County Common Pleas Judge Laina Fetherolf Rogers made clear in her order that should the elder Siders’ health improve enough to leave the hospital, the GPS tracking device he’ll be required to wear also will be “paid for at the State’s expense.”

“A lot of small counties like us, we’re in the same boat as Vinton,” said Mike Davis, prosecutor for Pike County, another financially-strapped southern Ohio county. “If a person has a medical issue, do we pay the medical bills and keep them in jail and blow our budget, or do we let them out and risk something happening that’s worse?”

Archer emphasized that authorities determined the strategy didn’t put the public at risk in Gary Siders Sr.’s case, given his health condition and the fact the case strictly involved family members.

The judge agreed this week to Archer’s requests to bring on three special prosecutors — Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson, Assistant Attorney General Kara Keating and Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins, an expert in child abuse cases — to share the load of the case “without compensation.” That means their offices will cover their own costs.

Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain also has requested assistance from the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, according to records released by Wilson’s office, which is not unusual.

“Money’s green and it’s absolute. You either have it or you don’t,” said Davis, who said he could relate to Archer after Pike County had to grapple with a major criminal case of its own: the 2016 Rhoden family murders.

He said the demands of a significant criminal prosecution are felt across a small county’s entire government operation, as workloads are shifted among government office staffs of oftentimes just one or two people and larger spaces and reliable internet service have to be secured for the influx of investigators and out-of-town media outlets.

Removing the 16 siblings from their home also instantly more than doubled the number of children in temporary custody in Vinton County — a daunting prospect for a county with about 12,600 residents and the smallest budget among Ohio’s 88 counties.

On Monday, a state legislative panel is expected to approve a request from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth to provide $1 million in additional state cash to Vinton County to help it cope with the “emergent and developing child protection crisis.”

The Siders children ranged in age from 18 months to 18 years, and some were described as “feral” and unable to speak. Authorities said their medical conditions varied and alleged that they had been kept in about a 12-foot-by-12-foot room for several years. Two were flown for hospital care.

Archer did not elaborate but said this week that all the children are “safe and being cared for.”

The eldest was born in May 2008, two months after then-18-year-old Gary Siders Jr. and Elizabeth, who was 15, crossed the state line to get married at the Mason County Courthouse in West Virginia with the consent of Elizabeth’s parents, according to court records. She’s had pregnancies most years since then, the records show.

The 16 Siders siblings at the center of the endangerment case were all born in hospitals, according to birth certificates reviewed by The Associated Press on Friday. Among them are three sets of twins. Elizabeth Siders also had a fourth set of twins in 2022, records show, who died hours after birth.

The state Department of Children and Youth estimates that placement costs for the siblings will run between $150 and $250 per child per day. That adds up to roughly $850,000 a year, or more than three times the amount generated by Vinton County’s levy that’s split between children’s and senior services.

South Central Ohio Job & Family Services is consulting with its attorneys about setting up a trust for the children after an influx of financial and other types of donations poured in following news of the case, the agency said on Facebook.

The state cash headed to Vinton County will allow the agency to “ensure vulnerable children receive the safety, treatment, and support they urgently require,” the funding request said. Additional expenses, such as court costs and police overtime associated with the case, can also be covered with the state money. 

Ohio State Marion will highlight efforts to expand youth programming during the next Buckeye Talks on Tap event.

Ohio State Marion Director of Youth and Community Learning Tiffiny Rye-McCurdy will present “Growing Futures: Youth and Community Learning at Ohio State Marion” at 5:30 p.m. July 14, according to a community announcement. The free event is open to the public, with doors opening at 5 p.m. at Bucci’s Italian Scratch Kitchen inside Passenger & Rail Co., 320 W. Center St.

The discussion will focus on how a coordinated, multi-stage approach — from early curiosity through career exploration — can strengthen education and workforce pathways for students in the Marion region. The presentation will raise the question of how communities can intentionally connect experiences to support long-term student success, according to the announcement.

Event invites community input on youth program growth

The program will begin with a 20-to-30 minute overview of youth initiatives offered at Ohio State Marion, followed by an interactive discussion where attendees can share perspectives and suggest ways to expand programming.