What Naturally Repels Mice
Learn what naturally repels mice better then toxic chemicals
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Mice are among the hardest control pests on earth. This is largely due to females giving birth to over 30 babies per year and their ability to adapt to almost any environment. If left unchecked mice will quickly over run your home or property. Thankfully there are natural pest repellents for mice. Lets take a look at what naturally repels mice such as:
- Essential Oils
- Cats
- Cleaning
What Naturally Repels Mice – Essential Oils
Essential oils are an excellent natural mouse repellent. Three essential oils in particular have excellent research backing up their mice repelent abilities are Peppermint Oil, Eucalyptus Oil, and Citronella Oil. The research below lays out why each oil listed is a good answer to what naturally repels mice.
Peppermint Mouse Repellent
Peppermint oil is one of the most useful essential oils around. Its used in everything from beauty supplies, cleaning, and now even natural mice repellent. Several studies indicate peppermint oil is what naturally repels mice.
The results of research in 2010 on the effects of Peppermint oil on rodents determined that it has the potential to be used as a natural mouse repellent. The researchers found that rodents avoided zones where peppermint oil was used.
I’m normally a huge fan of DIY options but its also important to consider the cost of your supplies and ingredients. Creating your own natural mice repellent requires Everclear alcohol, pure peppermint oil, and distilled water. Since Everclear and quality peppermint oil are not cheap, a premixed commercial might be the best route for what naturally repels mice.
Peppermint Mouse Repellent Research
Research conducted in 2010 on the use of Peppermint oil for rodent control concluded it could be used as a natural mouse repellent. The researchers found that once peppermint oil was applied to a surface rodents avoided the area as long as the scent was present. This means the oil needs to be applied frequently.
Eucalyptus Mouse Repellent
You might be familiar with using eucalyptus oil for a stuffy nose or natural insect repellent, but did you know it can also keep mice away. In a recent study researchers set out to determine if eucalyptus oil could be used to repel rodents. To do this they applied a 5 percent, 10 percent, and 20 percent eucalyptus oil concentrations to a food source. The researchers determined Eucalyptus could be used to naturally repel mice. As with the peppermint oil study this must be directly applied to a surface the mice will walk on or touch. It seems that contact with essential oils might be part of why essential oils can repel mice. This means eucalyptus oils is another good answer to what naturally repels mice.
Citronella Oil to Naturally Repel Mice
Another effective rodent repellent is Citronella Oil. This was the conclusion after researchers applied citronella oil directly to a surface that mice would come into contact with. You might notice a pattern here, most studies determine mice need to come into direct contact with essential oils for them to be effective. This is a bit counter intuitive since essential oils are typically thought of as air borne agents. So while essential oils maybe a solution for what naturally repels mice, they seem to work best on surfaces.
What Naturally Repels Mice – Cats
When I was kid we usually had a few outside cats. Since the cats often left bits of mice on the patio (yes it was gross) I assumed we didn’t have issues with mice since the cats ate them. While that may have been true scientists have discovered that cats can literally scare away mice, not just eat them. Scientists have discovered compounds in cat saliva which trigger a fear response in mice. They isolated the behavior to a particular spot in the brain of mice. When scientists remove this spot from their brain the mice become unafraid of cats and other predators. If you want to take your cats mouse repellent abilities to another level try pairing them up with mans best friend.
Dogs + Cats Naturally Repels Mice
The combination of dogs and cats could be the ultimate natural mouse repellent, at least this was the result of a study by scientists examining three groups of homes. One home had cats, another only dogs, and the third house had cats and dogs. Scientists concluded that combining cats + dogs could reduce rodent activity more than either cats or dogs alone. The scientists commented “Showing that dogs have a role in rodent management has overturned my long held ideas on this subject. Now all we need to do is to find out why and how the combination of cats and dogs drastically reduces rodent activity in and around homesteads.”
What Naturally Repels Mice – A Clean House
An easy, simple, and cheap way to repel mice is to simple keep your house and property clean. Mice are opportunists that can turn crumbs, spills, and trash into a four star hotel with room service. However if we remember to keep our living areas clean then that reduces the options mice have to eat, drink, and find a home. Keeping a clean home also means you’ll seen evidence of mice right away and can tackle the problem before it gets worse.
You can Repel Mice Naturally
While most of the options we just considered have the ability to repel mice naturally they only work if you make a plan and put it into action. Once you do take action remember to keep track of your progress and what works best for your particular problem. Some solutions may work better than others on the mice you are dealing with.
We'll leave you with a video of what happens when mice are left unchecked
Now compare some of the most popular mosquito repellents in Thermacell Radius vs Patio Shield or What Eats Ticks