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How to Get Rid of Mice Naturally | The Old Farmer's Almanac

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10 Ways to Get Rid of Mice Naturally

Catherine Boeckmann
May 24, 2023
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Pest Type
Non-Insect Pests

Mice in the house create a mess with their droppings, cause damage to structures, and carry disease. In this article, we’ll tell you how to 1) be sure it’s mouse damage, 2) do your own pest inspection, and 3) employ our 10 natural mouse repellents that work!

Why You Need to Get Rid of Mice

Mice live near humans. You may need to learn to live with mice, but you need to keep them under control. All mice need is a hole the size of a dime and then more mice will follow. Mice also give birth up to 10 times a year with 6 to 12 babies per little so you need to tackle a mouse problem quickly.

Mice are bothersome and costly, because they contaminate a great deal of food for humans—from our crops to our cupboards.  They chew holes in wires and destroy houses. They also carry disease and bacteria. 

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Identification

How to Identify Mice

The first step is to make 100% sure you’ll dealing with mice, not juvenile rats or bats or another critter because the control methods are different. There are many animals that can be scratching inside your walls, including squirrels.

Mice are small rodents that have relatively large ears and small black eyes. They are usually gray or light brown. Mice weigh about 1/2 of an ounce, and they are five to seven inches in length. Their tail adds an additional three to four inches to that length. 

Mice are characterized by a musky odor, and they are often active at night. They also have droppings that are smaller than a grain of sand (unlike rats and other pests). The only dropping size that is similar is bats. If you do have bats, you’ll notice their droppings are more crumbly and mouse droppings squash flat. 

In addition, if mice are trapped inside your house, you’ll notice a distinct odor due to the defecating and urinating; plus, often some mice will die and be unable to escape.

Mouse Damage

In the home, especially in your attic or basement, mice will chew small holes in boxes, fabric, newspapers, and whatever they can find to make a nest. In addition, mice will check on drywall and insulation and even wiring. 

When mice come inside, they’ll look for a place with water. You’ll often finding droppings under sinks or near toilets or in wet basements or garages. Once they get into the kitchen (often via plumbing), they will look for food. Mice can easily chew through food packaging and you’ll find proof of them by the droppings they leave along their path (as well as urine stains which may not be as visible).

In the garden, mice also love to tunnel and chew. Partially eaten potatoes or carrots are a sign of mice activity. They also love to eat newly sown seeds. 

Mice and mice feces can cause very serious diseases so take this issue seriously.

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Photo credit: Pixabay


 

Control and Prevention

How to Prevent Mice

Mouse traps are not only inhumane but also they don’t keep mice out of your house. It’s more important to prevent mice with exclusion methods that deter mice from entering your home in the first place. Here’s what to do first.

1. Do a Pest Inspection

Do your own interior and exterior pest inspection to find exactly where they’re getting in. Remember, you’re looking for any gaps the size of a dime or larger. Get a flashlight. Walk around your foundation; look under the foundation to see if the mice can get into your crawlspace. Walk around the roofline (get a ladder if needed). Check the dryer vent.

Pest experts say that mice also do a “walk-around” and are often triggered to gaps when they can smell nice warm air flowing out of your house and that’s another draw. Look at all vents and screens. Look for any signs of chewing at the bottom of garage doors. (And keep those garage doors shut!)

Then pack all those small gaps with steel wool. Do NOT use spray foam which rodents chew through. Larger gaps might need to be closed with 1/4-inch mesh. 

2. Remove Easy Food and Water Sources

Also, look for any food and water that mice could access. Open garbage bins? Spilled birdfeed?  Leaky hoses? Water bowls? Store all your grains, pet food, garbage, and birdfood in metal containers or heavy plastic boxes. Also, don’t leave pet food dishes full of kibble at night or you’re inviting any mouse in the house to dinner.

3. Remove Easy Hiding Places

As you do your walk around, look for easy hiding places such as firewood stacks, thick leaves or ground cover along the foundation, any clutter, or anything leaning against your house. You’ll need to do a big outdoor cleanup project and clear everything around your foundation by at least one foot.

4. Remove Nesting Material

Don’t leave old rugs, blankets, clothes, or any soft fluffy nesting material around your attic, basement, or garage. Store everything in containers made of metal or heavy plastic. Avoid cardboard and paper boxes which can also be chewed up. 

In the garden, avoid using straw as mulch or any fluffy mulch that provides nesting places. Do not mulch heavily nor put mulch near the base of trees.

Getting Rid of Mice 

We’re not a big fan of poison or traps. First, we’d prefer not to kill animals. But also it doesn’t really work long-term as more mice will just move in. The first step is to seal up those entry points and make sure you remove all the food, water, and nesting materials. Then, you will need to control the population already in your home:

  • If you must, use a humane mouse trap or snap trap baited with peanut butter near mouse paths.
  • Consider getting a cat! Some cats enjoy hunting more than others, but all can help to take care of mice in your home to various degrees. If you do get a feline helper, do not put out mouse poison, which can harm your kitty, too, even indirectly if your cat catches a mouse that has eaten it.

Natural Ways to Deter Mice

To discourage mice from entering your home and garden, here are some natural solutions:

  1. Try a mouse repellent containing ammonium; see your local garden center. For some reason, ammonia smells like predator urine. You can even make your own ammonia traps by putting small caps filled with the liquid near mouse entry points.
  2. Mice do not like any mint or pepper smells. Try sprinkling cayenne pepper near mouse-prone areas (or create a sachet). Soak cotton balls in peppermint oil. 
  3. Mice are also repelled by camphor, lavender, and wormwood. You can find dried lavender in health food stores and some garden centers. 
  4. If you do get a cat, sometimes, even just the scent of cats will be enough to deter mice from returning to an area. One reader says that sprinkling kitty litter around entrances to the house works well; after all, it smells like cat urine!
  5. Try using dryer sheets to keep mice out of linen closets or stored clothes.
  6. If you must, use a humane mouse trap or snap trap baited with peanut butter near mouse paths.
  7. Sonic mouse deterrents (which make beeping noises) may also be effective.
  8. In the garden, try planting some plants that are believed to repel mice, including mint, lavender, pennyroyal, garlic, and onion.
  9. To protect bulbs, cage them or surround the bulb with crushed gravel in the planting hole.
  10. Wrap tree trunks with tree wrap or hardware cloth at their base. Be sure to remove come spring to avoid harming the tree!

See more about common garden pests like rabbits and moles.

Gardening
Pests & Diseases

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Comments

Jeanette (not verified)

3 months 1 week ago

If you opt to use kitty litter as a rodent deterrent, bear in mind it must be used litter.

sure way to attract more cats to your home.

Chris Koons (not verified)

3 months 2 weeks ago

Mice ate all my onion seedlings & dug through my tray to make sure they found every seed. Turns out they are definitely not repelled by onion. ☹️

zelda Briglia (not verified)

1 year ago

Thank you for this article. I am passing this information around my community and I am using Peppermint Essential oils under the hood of my car. Hoping the next time I am not changing my cabin filters in my nice warm hood because of rodent home nests in them

Sandy Holland (not verified)

3 years ago

How do you get rid of mice that eat onions? (Yes it is mice - I've seen them!)

Pat (not verified)

3 years 6 months ago

We leave a snap trap set in our crawl space in the attic all the time. Inevitably there is a mouse caught now and then, especially in the fall when temperatures cool and they look for warmth and food. It's very difficult to find a place where they may be entering because the nasty little critters can climb, too. Bird feeders help to draw them into our yard, too, but we love to feed and watch the birds. I guess our best bet it to keep the traps set.

Adria Sorensen (not verified)

3 years 6 months ago

you're the only site that gives good advice on deterring mice rather than all the other that say "get a professional". thank you. I will try your tips

Sally Arsenault (not verified)

4 years 6 months ago

I have an '09 Forrester and I have a problem with mice getting into the car. Have tried Bounce sheets and moth balls, they used the sheets in their nest right next to he bag of moth balls. I put bags of "Mouse Magic " down and they just ate into the bags. I now have 3 battery run sonic boxes that seemed to work for a time (yes, the batteries are good) but now that cold weather is here they are back in my car. I have put snap traps in the car and the snap traps work but I would rather deter them than trap them. Any ideas? I don't mind sharing my space but when driving down the road and one jumps up into the passenger seat it is disconcerting and I worry about the damage they can do. Also can't find where they are getting in.

Hi, Sally: We feel your pain. Have you asked your local Subaru dealer where they might be getting in? They probably get this all the time. The glove compartment is always a main suspect in any car. Take it out if you can, to get a better look, but even if you can’t, try to cover any openings that you see in there with duct-taped wire mesh or screening, being careful not to restrict any necessary air flow. Another possibility is what is called the rear air vent grilles on either side of the tire/ trunk compartment, which let air escape when you close the car doors—but these are hard to get to. In the end, the best thing to do is to mouseproof your car as you would a house foundation: Go through the engine compartment sides (firewall between it and cabin), the trunk, and the underside of the car as best you can, and painstakingly screen off every single opening of every size. Good luck, and thanks for asking!

Kelly K (not verified)

4 years 6 months ago

I've seen a DIY mouse trap that works good for in shops or garages. Get a 5 gallon bucket, a stiff piece of wire and a tin can. Poke holes in the top & bottom of the can and run the wire though it so the can will spin on the wire. Next make a hole on either side of the bucket and put the wire through them so you have the can laying horizontal in the center of the top of the bucket. Smear peanut butter on the can. Lean a board or something from the ground to the top of the bucket so the mice have something to climb on. They will smell the peanut butter, climb the board, jump to the can to get the peanut butter. The can will spin and the mice will fall into the bucket. You can dispatch them from there or have a couple inches of water at the bottom of the bucket so they fall in and drown. Seems a little cruel but it works.