Do Mothballs Keep Mice Away?

That is an interesting question and is the basis for my next tip... if I throw mothballs everywhere around my house, will it keep the mice out? The short answer is: yes, it probably will. The longer answer is: yes, it probably will, but it might keep you and your family out too!

Mothballs are toxic which means you're not going to want to use them in places where you have beloved pets roaming around or even worse, children. This is definitely a keep out of reach of children method for getting rid of mice. Aside from that mothballs act as a mice repellent because of their smell... mothballs can also function as a human repellent too because they truly do stink. They don't even come close to rivaling the dead mouse smell, so pick your poison...

So where would you want to use mothballs to handle your mice problem. You'll probably want to do it somewhere that you don't spend a lot of time in... an unfinished basement that's used primarily for storage; the garage where you spend a limited amount of time in it (maybe back and forth to the car); and maybe the attic where you go in once a year to get your christmas decorations out of. Beyond that try something else. If you're looking to get rid of mice in your living quarters, I'd recommend using a series of mouse traps placed along the routes the mice frequent.

So, in a nutshell, do mothballs keep mice away? The answer is YES! I do however believe there are better home remedies to keep mice out of the house. My personal favorite is to use peppermint oil to get rid of mice. It actually works, and it leaves your house smelling fresh.

Use Ammonia to Get Rid of Mice

You have a mice problem... the first step on the road to recovery is admitting that you do have a problem. It's ok because you're not the only one out there. There's so many of you I'm debating whether or not I should start a club: Mice Infestation Anonymous (MIA) - it's no coincidence that it's the same acronym for Missing In Action... (I fought the mouse and the mouse won - it's a new song I'm writing.)

Anyways, I diverge... so your mother keeps nagging you about this great home remedy to get rid of mice, but for some reason you're just not seeing it - ammonia, really - who does that? Even better it sounds like something your neighbor from a foreign country would say, "Ammonia, get rid mice fast. Use today!"

Is there any truth to the myth? There just might be... this is another one of those your mileage may vary, but it could be a cheap and easy trick to get rid of those little rodents. In the wild mice do have some natural predators... so to naturally get rid of mice, it may make sense to use this knowledge against the little buggers. I'm not suggesting you go get cat or fox urine and spray down your walls. That will probably work (Hmmmm - maybe I should write that up - this idea could be worth millions) - I'm not sure how pleasant your new living accomodations would be though. Hey, some people like the smell of urine...

Truth of the matter is - use ammonia because it just so happens that the scent ammonia puts out, simulates the smell of urine from possible predators. So how do you do it? Take little plastic caps and strategically place them where the mice are located. Fill the caps with ammonia. Don't expect the mice to drink the ammonia... the scent put off (and it's a strong scent) will deter the mice. This method makes sense in places like the garage or attic or crawl space... probably not the kitchen. Also if you have pets, I'll recommend that you avoid this method as they may decide that they're thirsty and drink - not good!

Hope this little household mixture to rid mice helps you!