Are you looking for the best food to put on your mouse traps? or perhaps you’re wondering what food is more likely to bring mice into your house. Either in this article, you’re going to find out what food attracts mice the most, and what you can do today to get rid of any mice in your home!
So keep reading to find out about the different foods that attract mice to your home!
What Food Attracts Mice
As you can probably guess, there are a lot of different types of food that will attract mice to your home or traps! So first of all, here are the different types of food that bring mice into your home.
Food That Attracts Mice To Your Home
Food that attracts mice to your home, isn’t neccessarily the best food to put onto your traps. With that being said here are some of the most common foods that are bringing mice into your house!
Plants
Sometimes it’s not even food that’s edible to us that attract mice! A variety of plants can often be the reason mice have decided to make your home their home. Green beans, sunflowers, zucchinis, cauliflower and turnip plants are just some of the plants that mice are attracted too!
However, as a rule of thumb, if they can eat it, they’ll be attracted to it.
Seeds And Grains
Mice absolutely love seeds and grains, partly because of their high fat and protein content. Bird seed in particular is one of the biggest culprits behind whats bringing mice to you. So if you plan on feeding birds in your garden, make sure you’re storing the bird seed in an airtight container that mice can’t get into.
You can also take steps to stop mice getting into your bird feeder as well!
Meat
While meat isn’t the number one food of choice for mice, they’re still omnivores. So given the chance, they’re definitely not going to turn down the opportunity to eat some. And as meat starts to go off, it gives off an extremely powerful smell that will attract mice even more.
So when you throw meat out, make sure you’re throwing it into a bin with a closeable lid that will stop the smell getting out.
Pet Food
If it’s good enough for your pet, then it’s definitely going to be good enough for mice. If you let your pets feed throughout the day, you could be unknowingly feeding mice too. Wet cat food in particular is the one mice love the most, however, they’ll happily eat kibble and treats too.
So once again, make sure you’re storing your pets food in airtight containers, and where possible, get rid of the food when your pets are done eating. And DEFINITELY don’t leave it out overnight.
Fruit
Another one of the most attractive foods to mice are fruit and berries. Just think, in the wild one of the most readily available sources of food to mice would be wild berries like blackberries and raspberries.
However, any type of fruit is going to attract mice into your home. So if you have fruit plants in your garden, you’ll need to take extra care to mouseproof your home as best as possible.
Trash
Just because it’s not good enough for you to eat, doesn’t mean it’s not good enough for a mouse to eat. When you’re throwing food out, make sure you’re throwing it into a bin that seals once it’s shut.
Sealing the bin is going to stop the smell getting out, and also stop mice from getting in.
And on that note, also make sure you’re cleaning up any crumbs that may be lying aroung after cooking and eating. Mice only need to eat about 3-5 grams of food a day, so even a few crumbs on the floor can be enough to fill them up.
Candy
Mice absolutely love candy, and if it wasn’t for the difficulty of putting it onto traps, it would also make great bait for them. Any candy which has a strong fragrance and is easy to eat will be ideal for mice. And just the sheer amount of calories in even a small piece of candy, is going to keep mice fed for ages.
Animal Byproducts
While things like leather may not be edible to mice, they may not realise this at first. And if it has a strong animal smell, then it will attract mice to your home.
Cereal
Cereal is grain based and often times it also contains a lot of sugar as well. So you can see why this food is so attractive to mice. In fact, when you notice mice in your home the cereal box is often one of the first things that get chewed through.
So if you notice this happening, make sure you transfer your cereal to an airtight container where it can be stored safely.
Anything Edible
While these are the main things that mice are going to be attracted too, don’t underestimate them. Mice will try to eat anything they can, and even if it’s slightly edible they’ll try and get through it!
So when you know you’re dealing with a mouse infestation, it’s vital that you store all food sources properly!
Food That Will Attract Mice To Traps
Now you know what food attracts mice into your home, the next thing to learn is which food is best to put on your traps. And remember when you’re using traps, bucket traps and live traps are just as effective (and a lot less cruel) than snap traps.
Peanut Butter
If one thing mice love more than anything it’s peanut butter! In fact, while you may have images in your head of cheese on your mousetrap, peanut butter is one of the best foods to catch mice with!
And due to the strong nutty smell that peanut butter has, it’s, one of the best baits you can use for mice!
Nut Spreads
Don’t be disheartened if you don’t have any peanut butter at hand. While it may be the best nut butter to use, all nut butters are some of the best foods to catch mice with. This is thanks not only to the smell they give off but also to the high fat and protein content. Both of which make an extremely satisfying meal for mice!
Soft Cheese
Soft cheese is also a great choice for your mouse traps as well. And the more potent the smell, the more effective it will be at luring mice in. Camembert and goats cheese are you best bet for this.
The reason they’re more effective is because of the odor they admit. To use these cheeses, just place a peasized amount onto your traps.
Chocolate
Chocolate is another one of the best foods to catch mice with and it’s a great choice for your mouse traps as well. However, make sure you’re using the right chocolate. Mice have a sweet tooth, so they’re going to favour milk chocolate over dark chocolate.
Once again, if you plan on using chocolate, oftentimes less is more. If you use too much, mice may be able to get to it, without setting off the traps.
Fruit Jams
While mice love fruit, fruit jams are so much more effective for catching mice on traps. The added sugar found in fruit jam is going to smell delicious to mice, and this combined with it’s already strong scent and stickiness make it a great choice for your traps.
And remember, you don’t need to put a lot of jam onto the trap, a small amount will be more than enough to attract mice and trap them.
Cookies
Cookies are similar to candy in how much they’re going to attract mice. And when you think most cookies often contain some form of chocolate, nut, or fruit, you can see why it’s going to be a great meal for mice. If you can place cookies onto your trap and combine them with other baits on this list, then you’ll be catching mice in no time.
Humane Ways To Get Rid Of Mice
You may think that killing mice is the best way to get rid of them. However, there are plenty of equally efficient ways you can get rid of mice without having to kill them. Some great alternatives include the following:
Bucket Traps
Bucket traps are another great choice because of how easy they are to set up and their effectiveness. You can purchase them online, and all you have to do is lure mice onto a spinning platform smothered in peanut butter.
Once they reach the platform it will spin and drop them into the bucket. The in the morning, you just need to take the bucket a mile or further from your home and let the mice out.
Block The Entrances To Your Home
While traps are going to get rid of any of the mice in your home already, if you don’t find permanent solutions to get rid of them, they’re only going to come back again.And remember, mice can fit through spaces the size of a dime, so be thorough with your search.
And when you find any of these holes, you can just plug them with aluminium foil or steel wool, as they’ll be unable to chew through these.
Give Your House A Thorough Clean
Mice see out warm areas that are cluttered to build nests where they can keep themselves and their babies safe. As well as this, they can live off just 3-5 grams of food per day. So to keep mice out of your home permanently, make sure you’re keeping it clean.
A few crumbs on the floor or an unused attic, garage or room, or eve drawer in your house is all it takes for a mice to settle and build a nest. So by keeping your house clean, you’re going to prevent mice from coming back to your home in the future.
Seal All Your Trash
You should also make sure you’re sealing all the trash in your home as well. If you leave the trash unsealed, at night it’s going to be an all you can eat buffet for them. So purchase bins have are sealed when not in use to get rid of one of a mouses main food sources in your home.
Don’t Leave Pet Food out
As well as sealing your trash, make sure you’re not leaving pet food out either. If food is nice enough for your pet, then it’s definitely going to be nice enough for mice as well! Wet cat food in particular is one of the foods that mice love the most.
Try Live Traps
As well as bucket traps, you can also use live traps to catch mice as well. Live traps work enticing mice in, and then sealing them once they’re inside. However, make sure you’re checking these traps often to make sure that you don’t leave the mice in there for too long.
Remove Their Access To Food
Also make sure you’re storing food in strong enough containers that mice can’t get to it. Airtight containers are the best bet, because not only will mice not be able to get to it, but the smell won’t come out either.
Try Natural Smells
Lastly, there are a lot of natural smells that can repel mice as well. Clove and peppermint are great ways to get rid of mice, and you can also try hot pepper as well!
Recap
As you can see, there are so many different foods that will attract mice to your home! So if you want to get rid of them for good, make sure you’re storing all your food in airtight containers where the mice can’t get to them!
Doing this will make your efforts to get rid of mice that much easier in the future! And if you liked this article, make sure you check out the rest of the website. Otherwise have a great day!
