This Fall we were posed with a problem. Mice were getting into the kitchen drawers and lower cabinets. Yes, it was gross. There was mouse poop Everywhere and it was a lot.
As my husband knows, I am anti trap. I figure either the cats will get them, or they’ll find their way out. Perhaps that perspective is naive, especially given that mice can procreate at a scary rate, but I accept that.
I tried a few things to keep them out. The first method failed. It involved taping cardboard in the back of the drawers. In my second attempt I set forks up along the back of the drawers with their prongs pointing right at them. The mice pushed them aside.
It was a plant, in the end, that kept the mice out. I purchased little cotton pads and doused them with peppermint essential oil, placing them in the back corners of each previously invaded drawer and cabinet.
IT WORKED! No more mice in the kitchen. Of course, we still have mice, just not in the kitchen. Which was my small goal.
Warning: if you are epileptic this is a bad idea, as peppermint is contraindicated for epilepsy.
