# How to keep rodents from ruining your food?



## thestartupman (Jul 25, 2010)

I know this may sound like a dumb question. If you have a celar with shelving. It stays reasonably dry. How do you keep your food secure from rodents? I know the canned food is sealed, but I don't really want mouse fesus sitting on the top of the jars. Besides the canned goods, what about the fresh food for storage? The potatoes, apples, onions, ect... How do you keep these items clean, and good for eating? Any and all help would be appreciated.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Get rid of the mice.


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## Vickie44 (Jul 27, 2010)

If you dont have cats then I would put some mouse baits down there. Also remove paper goods or any thing that might draw them in to nest until you control the issue. Until then you could cover jars with a old towel or plastic sheet


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## Vickie44 (Jul 27, 2010)

I limed my basement real good and put out baits . This year I stored potatoes and squash , no disturbance


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

I keep a trap in the pantry. If a mouse gets in,they go straight for the trap,cause they like carmel better than potatoes.


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Well, in the first place, I don't expect potatoes, onions, etc. to be clean! That's why I wash them and peel them and rinse them again

Any jar or can or bottle that comes out of the back room/ storage area gets washed before I do anything with the contents.

And, like others mentioned, get rid of the mice. In this old place, it's an ongoing battle!


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## thestartupman (Jul 25, 2010)

Just to let everyone know, I haven't started storing food yet, I am just trying to prevent, and get info from others that have battled this problem.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Get a bunch of rubber bands - LOTS of them. Get some paper, any kind will do. Cut out a circle (or square - it doesn't matter). Place paper over the tops of the jars and secure with a rubber band. Mice will poop on the paper and you can toss it.

I always wash off the tops of my jars before opening them. I don't have a mouse problem in the house, but I do have them in the pole barn where some of my stuff is stored.


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## strawberrygirl (Feb 11, 2009)

You could place cardboard over your jars or you could store them in boxes on your shelves. We don't really store much produce in the basement because it is too damp. We have stored potatoes and onions, but that's about it. 

We have lots of traps set. Once in a while we catch one (right around the time it starts getting cold outside), but not very often. We haven't had an issue with them getting into anything of pooping on our jars. 

That being said, we did move everything upstairs because the moisture got to be a bit much. We've stored our jars down there for the past ten years, but last year was extremely wet. I was afraid that the lids would rust or they would pop up and we would lose everything. 

Good luck!


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

strawberrygirl said:


> We don't really store much produce in the basement because it is too damp. We have stored potatoes and *onions*, but that's about it.


Onions should be stored in cool, *dry* conditions.


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## strawberrygirl (Feb 11, 2009)

suitcase_sally said:


> Onions should be stored in cool, *dry* conditions.[/QUOTE
> 
> Thank you for letting me know. I appreciate that. We've never kept them there for long periods of time. Our basement is just too damp to do that.
> 
> On a side note, dh is buying me an Excalibur for Mother's Day. Now I can dehydrate them! :dance:


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## rancher1913 (Dec 5, 2008)

WE have lots of outdoor cats (we also get mice in the cattle feed). I put solid bait in our cellars where there is food. No mice so far (knock on wood!)

Moldy


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

7thswan said:


> I keep a trap in the pantry. If a mouse gets in,they go straight for the trap,cause they like carmel better than potatoes.


This really makes sense to me and goes against all the usual bait recommendations like bacon and peanut butter (they really aren't interested in natural pb IME). I have to be scrupulous about anything in chewable packaging, but I didn't think Ricola cough drops would be such a siren call to mice. They chewed right though the unopened bag I left in a kitchen drawer. Told me a lot about their powers of detection for any kind of food source.
I have another little bit about bait - I like the D-con triangular boxes of that anticoagulant stuff, but you have to be careful to get the small pellets; the larger ones are carried off instead of eaten from the box, and it just doesn't seem to work.
Some people swear by peppermint oil, and I guess that might deter them from nonfood. I've paid a fortune for Bonide packets of the stuff and they didn't seem to care a bit.


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## suzysurvivor (Apr 18, 2012)

i purchased one of those ultrasonic rodent repeller things that you put in the wall socket. Usually, we have 'visitors' during the winter--not this year. Not a single dropping,not a single gnawed or eaten package of food, not a single shred of evidence that any varmints had been in our house all winter. They have been in the garage..but not the house.

HTH.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Even if you don't have mice you will have dust on the caps.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

We put a better door on our basement. No mice this year! Yay!!! But there is still a resident toad or two down there somewhere. 

Mice like chocolate icing too. We catch lots at our not-yet-rodent-proofed house with chocolate icing.


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