Mice are living creatures that are trying to survive just like you and me. They are not in your home in some sort of coordinated effort to make your life miserable. They are not naturally malicious dead set on causing damage to your home. They don’t want the diseases that they carry any more than you do. The problem is that people tend to leave food lying around that easily accessible to mice. Not only that, but our homes are the perfect shelter to keep them warm. Who wants to search for a hole in the ground when there’s a mansion with temperature controlled conditions? With all that being said, mice are a part of nature, so you might be inclined to get rid of mice naturally. They don’t mean you any harm, and you don’t want to harm them either. If this doesn’t describe you and you want them gone any way possible, there are other articles on this site to help you get rid of mice.
So how does one go about getting rid of mice naturally?
Try using peppermint oil. The smell of peppermint is too intense for rodents, so it acts as a natural deterrent. The scent is also so strong that it tends to mask the smell of other food that may be in your kitchen. Now I don’t suggest you to start cleaning your kitchen with peppermint oil on a towel. The best method of application is to place a few drops on cotton balls and place them strategically in your home.
The other way to get rid of mice naturally is to stop them from coming into your home in the first place. You need to seal off any possible entry ways in to your home. Mice can squeeze through holes the size of your pinkie finger, so check everywhere there is a breach into your home. Pipes, door thresholds, and windows are all perfect avenues for mice to get into your home, so make sure they are effectively sealed. For a temporary seal, you can use steel wool. Mice are unable to chew threw the steel with their teeth, so it effectively seals off the hole.
Here’s another cool method. You can use the smell of a mouse’s natural predators to deter them. If you know someone with a cat, ask to use their used kitty litter and place it around access points in your home (or buy a cat of your own. That will surely work!). The mice will smell the scent of the urine and flee the scene. The problem with this method is that you too will smell the cat urine or have a new pet that you don’t really want. There is a better way though, and I’ve written about it before. It’s an article about mouse repellents that discusses using the smell of fox urine. It is a product that you can buy online and spread around the outside of your home. If using the scent of mice’s natural predators is appealing to you, I highly recommend reading that article.
If you have more tips for getting rid of mice naturally, please leave them in a comment below for other readers. What works best for you?