Of Mice and Olive Oil

I didn't pick up here after a nearly two month hiatus just so I could talk about mice, but this one I couldn't resist.  I was making hoisin pork tonight, and I opened my "oil cabinet" to get the sesame oil and noticed something strange on the top of my gallon jug of olive oil.  Small white bits that looked sort of like wax.  A closer inspection revealed that the plastic spout had been chewed away.

I know mice will eat a lot of strange things.  I've had to put my emergency candles in plastic bags because they were eating the wax.  But I would like to think that if the mice are desparate enough to chew on the olive oil spout that my recent attempts to deprive them of food sources is beginning to work.

All the same, it's annoying (and not cheap) to lose a gallon of olive oil, even if it is my "cooking olive oil".  Fortunately my expensive olive oils are in glass bottles and will be unaffected by mice.

If the above isn't a good enough shot, here's a close-up of the spout...

 

Comments

[Tricia]

Oh my, olive oil! Who knew?? But I was suspecting something else from the title of this post. We had a mice invasion in our basement this summer. We were remodeling the kitchen and had moved everything to the basement. We found evidence of mice (nothing as odd as olive oil spouts, though!) and started catching them in the easy-release snap traps. After a week of no captures, we got complacent. Then one day I came downstairs to wash the dishes, took a large container off the top of my kitchenaid mixing bowl that had been left full of soapy water the night before - and found a dead mouse floating in it! Ugh! After I got done cleaning it, the bowl was probably the most sterile it's ever been!

Good luck getting rid of your mice!

[Kalyn]

Great photo. I hate those little pests.

[Hugo]

I always win vs. mice. Traps are best - but here are 2 alternatives.

I suggest you poison them. The next time you find a stash put some poison down. Mix chocolate in with it. Only works if the cats are too big to get at it.
Disadvantages - cats, not sure if you get the mice, mice smell when rotting.

Failing that here is a tried and true method for British rats - should work with US mice.

1. Fill a plastic trash bin with sawdust to about near the top. Sprinkle chocolate, bread and other mice goodieson top. Set up a ramp from floor to top of bin. Make sure the mice can get in and out. Keep this going for a couple of weeks. (Keep the cats out of the room at night - you want the mice to relax and enjoy)

2. One day - empty the sawdust. refill to with in a few inches with water. Grease the rest of the insode of the bin. Float an inch or two of sawdust on the water and bait as usual. Keep it going for two or three nights - they'll keep coming. Not very bright, mice. Say goodbye to the mice as you close the door.
Disadvantages - time consuming, weird looks from friends, unpleasant emptying barrel
Advantages - works.

[Kitchen Chick]

Hugo, that's very sneaky. I like it. (Though I doubt I'm going to try the drowning barrel method.) We've avoided using poison because if our cats catch the mice, they eat them. Letting our cats eat poisoned mice doesn't sound too healthy for the cats.

KC, I'm so sorry you're going through this. I went through it two years ago and the mental toll it took on me was nearing the PTS point. I still have weird outs when I hear strange sounds in our flat to this day. It gets better with each passing winter, but the more winters I go without seeing a mouse, the more at ease I start to allow myself to get. Let's hope you never get to that place. :-)

Also, it's not that they are eating the plastic or wax, but that they are sharpening their teeth on the items.

You really need to buy yourself a few of these Victor mouse traps that we like to joke double as chip clips. :-) They work like nothing else does, and they are super easy to set - there isn't any danger of you getting your fingers caught in the trap, either.

Just spread some peanut butter on the trap, set, and lay it down. I killed a whack of them this way years ago. Good luck!! :-)

[Tricia]

Traps similar to those Victor ones (but a different brand - or else not so boldly labeled) are what we use. While still extremely unpleasant, it's better than the floating in water incident we had over the summer...

[penny]

Okay, I've got one for you. We have a 27 year old cockatiel an a large wrought iron cage. There's a stand for the cage which it hooks onto and swings freely. Well, one day my daughter noticed a mouse jump out of the bird cage. I set a few traps but, to my chagrine, the next morning at 6, I heard some shuffling around the bottom of the cage. Sure enough, when I peaked, a mouse ran out of the cage and down the stand...lightening fast, I might add. Needless to say, I have re-hung the cage from the ceiling, eliminating the stand. They're still around, though. Lurking in the dark recesses just waiting for the lights to go out, the house get quiet and then PARTY!

[Jill]

Ahh, the never-ending mice saga. We have had good results with the "chip clip" style traps mentioned previously. Both the Victor and TomCat brands work equally as well. TomCat says not to bait it, while the Victor one suggests it. I just placed a drop of honey on the Victor. These 2 are nice and small and fit into the tightest of spots.

We use the larger TomCat humane traps on the floor and steps. Have caught many a mouse with them. The directions say when releasing the mouse make sure you do it at least a mile from your home.

One time the released mouse ran back to my car and jumped in the wheel well. I think I ended up driving it back to our house!