Peppermint Oil and Mice Do Not Mix
The topic of this post is peppermint oil and mice. That may seem a bit random, but as how to tips go, I think its a pretty good topic. A while ago, I wrote a post about how to get rid of mice. Honestly, when it comes to having mice in the house, if I have to deal with it, I want them gone…Immediately, if not sooner. I tend to go for the approach of getting rid of them for good. I think some people might have actually been offended by the video in that post if they didn't watch it till the end. Some people prefer kinder, gentler methods of rodent control, so today I thought I’d consider one of those options. The thing that actually got me thinking about this was a friend who mentioned that he had heard something about peppermint oil and mice. He couldn’t remember the whole story, so I started looking around. I don't think peppermint will help much if you already have a mouse problem, but it could help prevent one.
It turns out that peppermint oil is seen by many as a viable option for repelling mice. The idea is that mice and other rodents have extremely sensitive sniffers on them. The ultra intense peppermint scent is supposed to be too much for them to bear. You put out the peppermint oil and mice do their best to get away from it. Simple. The little vermin get one snootful of peppermint oil and they decide to move on to your neighbor’s house, where it smells like old beef and cheese or something similarly attractive to mice.
Peppermint 100% Pure Essential Oil
Peppermint Oil and Mice Procedures
The process for using peppermint oil to repel mice is pretty straightforward. You have to get yourself some peppermint oil and mice. You'll have to buy the peppermint oil, but the mice tend to show up on their own. Everything I have read says that it must be the pure OIL, not peppermint extract. You simply put some of this on cotton balls and then place the tasty smelling pieces of fluff where you think mice might be entering your home. This might include any small openings around garage doors or pretty much any space where a mouse’s head could fit since it is pretty much accepted that if a mouse can fit its head someplace, it will be able to squeeze its entire body through without much effort. If nothing else, this should motivate you to get started on some home improvement projects like sealing cracks around doors.
As a parent, what I like about the idea of using peppermint oil is the fact that it is relatively harmless. It is non toxic and at worst it is going to make your garage smell nice. Now this is all well and good, but I believe it is really only useful for keeping mice out. If you already have the furry little visitors hiding inside your house I would imagine it would be pretty tough to herd them out the front door using smells that offend them. I’m still a big fan of the more traditional methods of actually getting rid of mice, but assuming our home is mouse free when the weather starts to turn cold, I’ll probably put some minty fresh cotton balls around the garage.
If you are thinking of buying peppermint oil to try this in your own home, be aware that you can end up spending more than you would think if you don’t shop around. I found some people selling large bottles for around forty bucks. Really, I can’t imagine you would need nearly that much to start. I found it on Amazon for under ten dollars. You can see what is available by clicking HERE.
If you have had success with your own peppermint oil and mice experiment, please leave a comment below and I'll be happy to post it!
