4 Tips to Keep Mice Out of Your Kitchen
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It is common for mice to seek out a warm place for winter. Often times, they find their way into your home. Here are some tips to keep mice out of your kitchen.
Recently, I walked into the kitchen I spotted a mouse running across the kitchen counter and jump behind the oven. Kevin pulled out the oven’s bottom draw, the mouse ran out, and one of our cats, Jasmine caught it. As Kevin and I tried to get the mouse from Jasmine, she ran upstairs and set it free and it ran into our bedroom closet. Ugh!
I was planning on taking the afternoon to do some Christmas shopping. So much for my shopping plans. While our cats, Jasmine and Mysty hunted down the mouse in the closet, I spent the afternoon tearing apart the kitchen and moving the appliances so that I could search for mouse sized holes and clean everything from top to bottom. I didn’t find any signs of mice in the lower cabinets, but couldn’t be sure they weren’t running around in there. So I pulled out all the pots and pans and washed them. Then cleaned the insides of the cabinets.
We often have mice making their way into the house to find a warm place for winter. It is just a part of living in the country. Most times they stay in the basement and some live traps and our two cats keep them in check. Of course, I would prefer to not have them in the house at all, but it is impossible to keep them out completely. Nevertheless, I have no tolerance for mice in the kitchen.
How to Keep Mice Out of Your Kitchen:
1. Reduce Population: Mice can reproduce at surprising speed. A female can have up to ten litters each year with 3-14 babies each litter. Try to trap as many as you can and get rid of them. When using no-kill traps, be sure to release the mouse far away from the house or they will find their way back. We found this mouse trap works really well. It is metal, so mice can’t chew their way out.
2. Prohibit Entry: Mice can fit into very small dime-sized openings. Make sure any holes and gaps around the plumbing under your sink, around the electrical to your appliances, and behind your cabinets are blocked. Use steel wool and stuff tightly into the holes. Wear gloves to protect your fingers or use a pencil to poke it snugly into any holes.
3. Eliminate Food Source: Don’t leave food out on the counters especially overnight. Wipe up all crumbs from the countertop, clean your stovetop after dinner, and sweep or vacuum the floor. Take out the trash. Rinse or wash dishes before going to bed and remember to empty the kitchen drain. Store foods in glass or plastic containers and keep pet foods in an enclosed tote or container.
4. Repel With Peppermint: Mice don’t like the scent of peppermint. I mix up a spray bottle with half vinegar, half water, and a few drops of Peppermint essential oil. I use this mixture as a cleaning spray to clean the kitchen walls, cabinets, and floor. I use this spray for everyday kitchen cleanup. As an extra deterrent, I also put a few drops on cotton balls and rags and place these under the oven, sink, and beneath the cabinets.
Later that afternoon, Jasmine caught the mouse that was in the closet and it was disposed of. Good kitty.
I still wondered if there were other ways that mice could gain entry to the kitchen area. In the fall, I had done all the prevention methods mentioned above and while I cleaned I double-checked that all openings were secure and tried to find any areas missed. I didn’t find any additional holes under the cabinets. I just had to wait and see if the peppermint worked to deter mice from the kitchen.
A few days later, we found out how a mouse could get into the kitchen easily as I spotted Mysty running up from the basement with a mouse in her mouth. As my mind was still wrapping itself around what I was seeing, Mysty set the mouse free in the living room. Eek!!
So what do you do when there is a mouse running around your living room?
I have spent hours trying to capture frightened mice in the house that one of the cats proudly brought to me. They are extremely quick and agile when running for their lives.
I have found that their instinct is to seek out a safe place to hide. I have discovered tossing a towel on the mouse usually stops it in its tracks because it thinks it is under cover and hiding. Then you can carefully place an inverted container over the mouse, slide the towel out, then slide something flat underneath to enclose the mouse so that it can be disposed of.
Usually, I call Kevin for help at this point and he takes the container far away from the house and releases the mouse.
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I’ve only seen a mouse once in our home. And when I did, I jumped on a chair and screamed “like a girl.” My husband was gone but fortunately I have a house full of teenage boys. I think I’ll invest in some peppermint oil just to be on the safe side. Thanks for sharing at Simple Lives Thursday; we hope to see you again this week.
We had mice once, but they haven’t been back since. Eh, when you live in the country, it’s reality. So when my daughter told me she heard a mouse scurrying in the walls, I didn’t think twice about it. But imagine my amazement when it turned out not to be a mouse, but a shrew! I’m going to have to try out the spray you suggested, and see if the peppermint works on shrews too!
Congratulations Rachel! Your post at Simple Saturdays Blog Hop was a hit…people LOVED it, and so did I! Thank you for submitting and make sure and head over and get your button to proudly display on your sidebar as featured blogger. I surely hope you’ll be back!
I haven’t seen any signs of mice here at our “new” house, but I will save the peppermint trick for when they appear! Didn’t know about that one!
Eeek!!! I so relate to this story. We live in the middle of 110 acres and mice are a reality. Like you, I clean everything and stop up the holes. Your post has some great tips and made me wish I had inside cats, but Mary does a good job outside and my “Pack” keeps them at bay too. Thanks for the story, I laughed and almost cried with you.
Thanks for this post! I no longer have any cats, and my house with a stone foundation which was built in the 1700’s has hidden entry points I can never seem to find. That being said, I plan to utilize the peppermint oil cotton balls and the spray mentioned in your post. They sound like healthier options in my never ending winter battle with the mice. Thank you!
Tis the season for mice invasions. I’ve surprisingly never had them in my old cracky/holey house, I keep 50lbs bags of bird seed in the basement so I would notice in a hurry. I have had them in the shed though and two summers ago a huge colony of them step up in my porch. I use spring traps, heartless…. 🙂
Dan, I didn’t have mice for years when I first moved into this house then one year I had some, the following year none. So I guess it depends. I have food (potatoes, squash, onions) in the basement on open shelves and the mice haven’t touched it. But they chewed a small hole in the bag of dog food in the pantry closet.
We’ve been lucky in the mouse department inside our homes during the past few years. Haven’t spotted one yet. Less lucky in the garden. Hopefully that will change this time around.
I think by far the worst part about having mice inside your home is the droppings. Growing up in a row house in Philadelphia, I’ve experience my fair share to last a life time.
Thomas, You are lucky, your house must be sealed up pretty good. Unfortunately, our house has a lot of openings, especially in the basement where we have some flooding from time to time in the spring. Yes, the droppings totally gross me out. That is why I had to tear my kitchen apart and clean. Ugh!
Rachel, I am in a running battle with the mice who want to live in my house, and they do get into the kitchen. Ugh! Thanks for the link to Mountain Rose Herbs; I spent a lot of time this fall trying to track down a source for peppermint essential oil and came up empty. I’m looking forward to adding this tool to my anti-mouse tool kit. -Jean
Jean, I would imagine that it is almost impossible to keep mice out of your part-time home. A friend of mine with a weekend cottage puts all her food in sealed containers in the fridge when she leaves for the week (cereal, flour, sugar, etc.).
I remember growing up that our cat was a terrible mouse catcher as he would play with the mouse but never kill it and certainly never give it to us. The dogs were better.
Daphne, Our dogs are not much help. They will watch the cats chase the mouse, but don’t put any effort into it themselves.