May I make a couple suggestions that have worked for me. First, as a rodent exterminator, mix peanut butter or other food they've been in, with cornmeal and BAKING SODA together. Set it out on a plate and let them eat. I'm not trying to be gross here, but rodents can't fart so when they drink the baking soda expands and they expire. Secondly, if you want to collect numerous plastic containers to repackage items, check with local restaurants, nursing homes and schools. They purchase in large quantities and the containers are usually thrown away. I go to the local sub shop and get one gallon GLASS jars. Thanks for the observations. I'll be checking out my cupboards soon!
We once had a mouse issue and this worked wonders for us. We put it inside a plastic container with a lid. We cut a hole inside the container and they fell for it.
Oh, Pan I would reconsider that. I live at the wood's edge in a house that is well over 100 years old. It has no rodent barriers, so I am constantly battling rodents. It was not a part of code back then like it is now. I have had mice chew through the thickness of 5-gallon plastic buckets before. I did two things to eliminate the problems I was having in my basement. First, I purchased a broken used upright freezer with the intent of using it as a storage cabinet. It works great and can even be locked. Mice cannot get inside of it, and it really helps to keep the things I'm storing in the dark and at a pretty constant even temperature. The other thing I did was purchased Behren's galvanized buckets with lids and 31-gallon galvanized trash cans. All of my foods that I store in mylar are inside of those buckets and cans. I have them all sitting on wooden pallets so that the metal does not eventually rust from trapped condensation. I know I can never eliminate my issues with mice given my location, but I have found that metal and glass mason jars are the only things that can completely protect my valuable food stores from rodents.
That is an EXCELLENT solution! I have a very old, extra fridge in the laundry room…barely chugging along. I wasn’t certain what to do with it. Repair would be costly. Even repaired, it gobbled up electricity. You are a life saver, Richard!! And brilliant. Thank you so much for taking the time to offer your suggestion!! I never would have thought of this. Blessings to you!
I am trying to empty, then unplug one of my upright freezers as not to rely on frozen storage quite as much. This is an excellent idea for my short term storage that I am afraid could some day get rodent damage. This is such a terrific channel with super smart viewers with great ideas.
Ms. Pam, I don’t know if you knew this or not but the food we buy at the store also gets compromised by rodents while it sits in the warehouses. Just a heads up to wash the tops of cans.
You are absolutely right. I wash off the entire can, though. I worry about products in paper and cardboard. For a long time, birds were getting into our Walmart from the unloading docks. They'd fly around and sit on the shelves. I don't know what they did but there haven't been birds around for years now. Not so sure about mice in the food storage area.
I think it's great that, despite some embarrassment, you keep it real and tell it like it is to help the community. Imho there is no need to be embarrassed. Mice are equal opportunity invaders and no one is immune from their attacks. To quote a very wise woman, "Knowledge is power."
I don’t think they automatically know what to do even though they might be born with a natural instinct to hunt, I think they have to learn how to use it to their advantage. I adopted a 10 weeks old kitten who was born to a feral mother living in the streets her entire life. She was eventually trapped, neutered then released but the litter was taken away and adopted out. My boy is now 3 years old and a complete indoors cat; he’s fascinated by anything that creeps, crawls, moves or flies about but he’ll only stare at it for ages giving it a playful swat now and again, sniff it and walk away looking at me as if to say do something about this! 🤣🤣 He was never taught to hunt and kill and has no idea that it’s prey and what to do about it. I guess his instincts could eventually kick in again if he ever found himself lost in the wild and have survive but that’s never going to happen!! 😂 Strangely though, he’s an ace fly spotter and catcher. 🪰🐈⬛🐾🐾😻🥰❤️
We have a male cat and a dog both are useless when the rats were getting in. The only thing they did do was kinda give away the spot they were getting in at.
True. I had bird seed stored in a plastic bin in the garage, and the rats nibbled away at the area where the lid joins the base until they could enter the bin. So I bought a large metal toolbox to store the seed and no more issues.
For the items that you don't like to lay them down, here's a tip. Put them in the container all going in the same direction. When you put it on the shelf, just stand it up. You can always switch them out as you come across larger, taller containers
I am in the middle of cleaning up from mouse damage and have been cleaning for 2 weeks now. I have washed everything! I tore apart the room until I found where they were coming in at. My word I have never been so mad and sad at the same time! They put a hole in 2 gallons of oil and 12 boxes of shelf stable milk. I can't even tell you how disgusting the clean up is. Last year we had an awful explosion of mice like I have never seen before. We have a partial dirt basement and they went through so much the year before so I brought everything upstairs to a back room and in the closet we have an old chimney that was closed off from the rest of the closet and that is where they were getting in from the basement to the main floor. I have moved most food in glass jars now and I am ready with 25 lbs of one bite poison waiting for them this year! I don't wish death on anything except roaches, flies,snakes and MICE!!!!
my story is similar, in 2021 moved into a old house, there were droppings in the kitchen, sealed off plenty spaces by laundry, under sinks, a hole in wall next to an unfinished closet. I thought that was fixed then by fall i heard them scurrying around in walls and eek saw some. Got blow in insulation wherever i could, bought a boatload of poison and to this day live only in 2 rooms and have closed off rest of house bc i freak out with mice. The sad part is the bedroom i planned for my survival pantry was nixed. I keep most everything in glass, plastic cont .only in my view. Keep beans, rice, things like that in gal. glass jugs. I saw how a mouse here chewed up foam insulation trying to get out, couldnt and then died. We have a chimney, closed off, not used and i believe they are getting up from under the house there. Plus i don't heat those rooms to deter them, tho my freezer is in a cold room i found a mouse run out bc he felt warmth from motor. For people who have freezers in their garage, mice can damage them chewing. I lost a lot of dog food that now i keep in double heavy duty plastic cont. I swear they smell a mile away food and don't underestimate rats can be there, urban or rural. It's a constant vigil, i feel what you went thru.
I hate all those too , my husband hates snakes the worst killed a rat snake the other day without checking it out first. Ugh I'm more scared of spiders. Thanks for all info here. I'll start checking my stash in morning, this is first year I've prepped as much.
We have also run into situations with mice. We find that the easiest way is to put anything that is not in a glass container into a plastic tote (and we opted to get heavier totes). Mice will find a way. We had a thick container of plastic (tupperware) and they got through it. We also prefer traps to bait. If a mouse eats poison and get caught by a bird or mammal, that creature can suffer.
You are so right! The damage and death to our wildlife from mouse and rat baits is horrible. All raptors, wild cats even opossums are killed by baited rodents. Opossums and raccoons will eat dead rodents and die themselves. There are far better ways to combat rodents than bait. Plaster of Paris homemade bait is a good one, Mouse-X is good but I do not recommend Rat-X. Both of these baits dehydrate the animal and they die. Rats are smarter than mice so after a bit they learn to go after the roots of your crops to get their moisture which they don't need much of. Ask me how I know. Dry ice is also a great rodent killer if you can find their holes. We had a rat invasion from a nearby home being renovated, Rat-X worked great for 2 months until they got smart and went after our garden, the roots only, right at harvest. After spending over a month staying up at night shooting them with a pellet gun I was desperate for another way. Dry ice! In our case the majority of the rats lived under a shed, dry ice placed in the holes as far down as we could poke it and then covering those holes killed just about 100% of the rats. As the dry ice "melts" it becomes gas looking for the lowest level which replaced the oxygen with carbon dioxide and killed those rats. The smell was not great but since it was late fall early winter we didn't experience it like we would have in summer. Bottom line it worked! In one fell swoop and no other animals suffered with unintentional poisoning. Win win. There are also rat/mouse buckets that drown them. Works best on mice and small rats, the big ones can stretch to get the bait. Rodents are definitely a plague. 🌷
@@sharonjones7674 Great info...thanks. I too wont use bait....it impacts the raptors in our area...along with other wildlife as there is a secondary kill issue with this method. Mousetrap Monday is an excellent information site to help with rodent infestation. We are all trying to do our part to save our wildlife!!!
I have a cattery. 27, all rescues and fixed. Plus 7 feral s I also care for. Haven't seen a live roach, bug or snake or mouse near or in my home, except for an occasional dead mouse or lizard they proudly give me to eat. It's sweet and hilarious they think about me.
We have 3 outdoor cats and I now have mice problems since I started my food storage in our home. It is time to have a good chat with them. We also have an indoor cat who is a good mouser, but she is allergic to flee bites even with good prescribed prevention meds. Eventually she will need medical (treatment). It is something that with her it is just unavoidable. But she is a good mouser.
@@chelinfusco6403 Don't free feed cats. Just twice per day wet food and feed nothing on Sunday . Zoos do that with all their obligate carnivores to keep them healthy. Domestic house cats are also obligate carnivores. Throw that dry food in the trash!
Tell me about it! Had that happen once, and it went on for a couple months. Awful! It may have been a rat. That is why I don't like things like that. I now use traps.
Our food storage is our number 1 priority. We live in a very small house. So room is at a premium. After a mouse infestation 5 years ago in our garage, we ended up converting a spare bedroom closet and a linen closet for our food storage. We also emptied out a few kitchen cabinets. All food gets repackaged into glass jars with metal lids. They’re easy to check on and access now. The stuff that was in those closets and cabinets were things that we didn’t really use that much. They went to where we used to store our food. With no food in the garage we haven’t had mice since! Thankful they have not ever been in the house! But still everything is stored in glass, just in case!
Our city has a big rat problem. I was so embarrassed when they started visiting our chickens. When the rodent guy showed up and made it very clear that we were doing everything right, and this is a greater issue than any 1 person. It helped me a lot to hear that.
We had similar problems in our basement storage and went to the same solution. We always see a burst of rodent activity in the fall as the mice move inside for the winter. Well done. 👍
Hi Pam, thank you for all your knowledge sharing. I would like to share that my husband and i have our own sheds. His became loaded with mice he tried traps all kinds of things that did not help. Mine is about 20' max away from his. Not one mouse dropping or any sign of mice. We just emptied my shed this weekend to make better use of the space. This is how I am so certain. It has been 8 yrs that I have had this shed and no mice. What did I do? Someone told me they hate moth balls. Moth balls today come with little netted bags with the balls in them they are not loose like years ago. I simply lay the bags on the floors (. I am very generous with them). I don't have food out there but neither does my husband. So if you do that I would just keep them away from any food just in mylar or plastic. The moth balls smell won't penetrate your containers. I don't even have squirrels or anything in mine. Hope this helps.
You two are the absolute best! This is exactly why I love your channel so much. You are very open to sharing these valuable lessons with us, and these are really life-changing issues. When it gets right down to the bottom line - if someone like me has a rodent problem and I don't know it, if the world turns upside down again, I could very well go out to my storage area and find all my food completely ruined. No food, no water, no nothing....equals disaster. Because of this video alone, I know to check my food storage regularly, I know the signs to look for, and if there is a problem, I know how to fix it. Thank you for your transparency, and your wonderful lessons!!
I am not sure, but I think the reason that you have not had any rodents chew into your plastic bins or buckets is because they did not have to. They simply ate the foods you just showed us. Rodents and other animals are definitely able to chew through the plastic bins, and 5 gallon buckets. Anything that is not in a metal can, I either put in a glass jar or a large metal tin like popcorn comes in during the holidays. You can also buy a large new metal garbage can to keep food from rodents.
Yes, I went through that years ago, so now things either go into glass, or those popcorn tins, or the small metal trash cans (think they are 5 and 10 gallon). We have had mice get in, but at one time even had rats get in, so everything has to be put into those kinds of containers.
I have thirteen 55-gallon metal drums with removable tops full of food storage. Also found on Craigslist 9 old metal school lockers that we put shelves in, and that's where we keep paper products and cardboard boxed food items. Rodent proof!
Agreed. Mice when hungry enough and a few days of not being trapped, plastic is chewed thru. I lost beautiful baby memories in a rubbermaid. If it's rat or squirrels...any plastic is NOT safe. Glass jars and metal trash cans are the best storage.
I vacuum sealed everything before I put it in food storage buckets. I caught a mouse a few months ago with sticky paper. And I have a couple of lizards catching all the bugs. So far, I'm lucky. Put your card on the inside against the plastic so you can read it from the side. That way, you can change the contents without making a label mess on the container.
We have had to use galvanized garbage cans with labels on the outside to store our supplies in. It can be a bit of a pain to retrieve the items at the bottom, but they haven't failed us yet. Thank you for the knowledge you share with us!👍💕
Thank you for sharing this and normalizing challenges that we all have, but are socialized not to discuss. We recently had a rat come up through a sewer drain that has not been properly sealed after an inspection by the city. The damage caused by just one was astounding! They are bold, smart creatures. This one even chewed through plumbing pipes to get to water. It cost us over $1000 to fix the damage and another couple hundred in food loss. But it was a valuable lesson in preparedness- we had never considered rats before, but we have changed our storage and equipped ourselves for yet another possibility.
Thank you for sharing that things go wrong for you too. We mix baking soda with a little cornmeal to help control the rodents. Set it out in a container with a lid and a little hole in the side for them to crawl in. It gives them gas they can't pass that builds up in their intestines and they die. The mixture won't harm other animals like pets and farm animals. It is one thing I tried from the internet that worked.
I had knee issues this spring, which was very wet. Mine is in the basement. Well I went down when I could and mice had and were there!! I ended up throwing so much away. Everything are now in totes! I’m still cleaning it up! I’m sorry you are going through this, it’s a nightmare!
I empathize with you! I battled rats in my house after years of illness kept me in bed. Battling rats is not for the faint of heart!! I pray you get the assistance you need to solve your dilema.
Get peppermint oil and put it on cotton balls. Put it in the area where the your food storage is. You have to repeat every 3 weeks. But 10 minutes every 3 works. You won’t see mouse dropping if you do this.
For 13 years we lived in an old farmhouse in the middle of hundreds of acres of farmland. With every spring planting and fall harvest we got inundated with field mice. The stacked stone foundation provided lots of crevices and the plumbing runs became their highway. We baited, trapped, stuffed voids with steel wool and even got cats. The mice kept coming.
Try putting out baking soda mixed with a little cornmeal. It helped us. If you haven't heard of it, the baking soda gives them gas. Mice can't pass gas, and it build up in their intestines and kill them, but it won't hurt any of your animals.
We had a similar problem happen with our food storage last year. I was shocked, appalled and embarrassed. The extent without me knowing, I couldn't even understand. We had to throw out a lot of stuff. Now we only keep cans or jars there if I can't actively keep an eye on them. The battle is never ending when you live on the edge of wilderness.
Oh how awful! So sorry this happened. Please make sure you do get the crisco in an upright position before summer and heat hits. I'd be concerned about leaking.
I’ve never had these problems because I’ve always had a cat. When I got divorced and moved out with my cat my ex was overrun and overwhelmed with mice. 😂 He doesn’t want a cat but he’s putting food out for neighbor cats all the time now. It helps. So sorry for your loss of such great items.
We live in FL so storage in a garage is impossible due to extreme heat and we have no basements. Like you, we are retired and it’s just the two of us, so We took one of our two walk in closet in our BR and built floor to ceiling shelves to house our food storage. Problem solved and no lizards, snakes, bugs or rodents.
I recently had this problem in an extra pantry closet in my house. What a shock when I opened the closet door and saw all of the mice droppings and noodles and other items that were in plastic bags laying on my shelf. I had to throw away quite a few items. The items that weren't touched and were in plastic bags or cardboard boxed were put in tubs. The items in glass are back on the shelf in the pantry after a good cleaning. It's only the second mouse we have had after living in our house for 20 years.
Don’t be embarrassed. I lived on the farm with a dirt cellar in my youth. They have collapsible spines. That’s why they can go almost anywhere, and they did. I live in town now and suddenly have them in my garage. My old cat lives out there, but they’ve still settled in. I have put out traps, but will now also be using the baking soda trick. Thank you for the reminder.
Sweet Friends! DO NOT be embarrassed! Rodents plague most of us. We've had to sterilize our garage level 3 shelves twice. We always have traps set, uh until I compromise them! lol I seem to be drawn to them while working in the garage. Bless you for sharing and keeping us informed and encouraged!
Pam, we are building a home off grid and mice are abundant. My husband sprayed a spray insulation foam into any cracks or seam that is specifically made for bugs and rodents. I also have issues in my house in town. I have mouse hotels with bait outside my garage door and near the entrances inside my garage. I am adamant about not leaving the garage door open when we are doing yard work. We open and close it when needed. That has really helped keeping the mice under control. I also use food grade buckets with gamma lids to store beans,rice, pasta in.
We've never seen a mouse at our home, we have a cat! Small investment that pays back with loyal patrolling and lots of unconditional love. She was a rescue, found on the streets of Jacksonville, FL.
To keep rodents out of the garage, I've put cotton balls soaked in either peppermint or clove essential oil. They were ruining the hardwoods my husband was using for wood working...So far so good.
Spray peppermint oil in and around anywhere you don't want mice/rats. Peppermint leaves work too. Just have to renew every month or so. Planting mint around buildings/house will do the same. An added plus is it keeps snakes away too.
I have four species of kingsnakes at my house. I don’t want to deter their presence. I would encourage them to multiply if I knew how. I live in diamondback rattlesnake and copperhead region and we haven’t seen one venomous snake.
@@dw387- I have coachwhip snakes in my garden. They scare the bejezus out of me, but I let them be. They prey on rattlesnakes. The rats and mice are terrible this year.
Snakes prey on mice! Cats & owls do too! We have non venomous black snakes around our property. The cats are skittish near the porch, so I know they are nearby hunting for mice!
Hi Jim and Pam. That’s a hard lesson we all learn. Glass jars work and vacuum seal the jars. Alaska Granny does a lot with glass jars and you might want to check her out. I love that you showed us the true facts of food storage. Always a challenge. We are always fighting humidity,temperatures, and the bugs and mice. Ugh!! Glass jars were my answer. Great video!!
If you are going to BUILD some cabinets, or are handy with DIY, use zink sheets to line your cabinets or food storage closet. My grandmother had a cottage in Ontario, Canada. Very rustic. There is simply no way to keep rodents out during the long winters. The only thing we can do is protect everything we can. Our linen closet is lined with zink sheet metal. The cabin was build in the early 60's. Some 50 years later, no rodent has made it into the linen cabinet to make a cozy home in sheets, towels, blankets, pillows etc. Oh how we wish she had lined the pantry with zink! Last year food was left in the pantry, and the squirrels found a way in. It took a week to clean up. All the food was destroyed, but the damage to the shelves was also considerable. They also made homes in some of the furniture. We kept finding damage throughout the summer. If I was going to build a food storage closet, I would line the interior of all the cabinets with zink. I think zink is fairly soft and somewhat easy to manipulate, so existing shelves/cabinets etc could be lined with sheets of zink by determined DIYers.
I've read online that mice/rats don't like the sound or smell of aluminum foil or black pepper. So maybe you could look into that for further research. It was said that you can add pepper/peppercorns inside bins of all sizes that you have food items in a pack away. Also consider lining the shelves with foil and wrap around in strips on the 4 posts from top to bottom. You can take balled up foil and place them underneath and all around the food areas. One last way I know of would be to buy a galvanized aluminum garbage can with a tight fitting lid, arrange food to fill to the top. If need be, place something heavy to hold the lid down or use bungee straps to hook from 1 handle to the other across the lid. Put pepper/cayenne and or foil under and around buckets to deter. Squirrels don't like the smell of vinegar, ground cinnamon, pepper, chili powder or garlic. I found all of this online doing different Google searches. Hope this helps anyone who reads this. Baking soda mixed with powdered sugar is also a good way to get rid of mice for good, they'll explode internally! @vmmiller is right about the soda. Thanks for sharing with us!
Suggestion. Instead of a card on the outside where mice could get to the card, why not put the card on the inside facing out. Since the containers are easy to see through it seems it might be a good idea. Also I know certain bugs are attracted to paper products.
Here in a Houston suburb on our 12 ac. Horse farm we have had many battles with rodents. We have used the super tough round cattle feed lick tubs with latch down lids. Rats have eaten through in one night!!! The bottom and rim is super thick. We store our horse feeds in them. I make up my own horse feed formula for 25+ years. Metal is the only way we can protect our stuff!!! I guess Texas rats are monsters on steroids!!! They have gotten into our guest house and office and destroyed our a/c duct work. We are now trying the heavy duty sticky pads. Found them on Amazon. They aren't humane but desperate measures. I'm 69 and tired of the rat battle. Love your videos and share with family, friends, and ward family. Plus I'm loving my new Ankersrum. Such a blessing. Thanks for all you do Eva
Thank you for all of your sensible, practical advice! One idea: I buy large metal trash bins, as they can hold much food, and no pests can penetrate them. I have lots of sealed mylar bags in there, and trust them more than the plastic buckets. It's a bit more hassle, and I have to keep a list of what's inside or it's easy to lose track, but worth the peace of mind to me.
Hi, Pam. We store certain grains and sunflower seeds in 5-gallon buckets with the normal, cheap lids. Mice break into those almost immediately around the edge of the lid, destroying the lid. I have never seen them get into a Gamma lid.
@@vickybullock6036 Yes, we now keep everything like that in 31-gallon galvanized cans. We keep our organic rabbit pellets in use in 5-gallon food grade buckets with Gamma lids. Extra, unopened bags of pellets also go into 31-gallon metal cans. Works like a charm. ❤️
Dr Pam, great vid! Hoo boy…this is a perennial problem that most of us have…and even more incentive to stop using plastic containers. I was horrified to learn that only 9% of the plastic we recycle actually gets used - the rest is building up in giant warehouses all around the world. Then there are all the micro plastics permeating the oceans, getting in our food, etc. I try to buy goods in glass or cardboard, and repackage, as you do, into glass or metal. The Plastic/Petroleum Industry is making it awfully difficult! Encouraging natural predators such as owls and snakes helps too!
I’m glad you are addressing this here. I, too, only have my garage to store much of our food. It is a constant battle, and I hate wasting food and money.
Thanks for the video! I just cleaned up same problem. Solution for me is mouse traps and leaving the pantry room door open and encouraging my exterminator crew to work! Two mouser cats!
Maybe stack some bins on their ends to put the contents upright inside. This is a great idea for me to use bins for storage in the deep corners of my kitchen cabinets. When I lived on farmland, I made friends with the black snake. My first thought was to relocate him far away...but then my husband said, he's here to eat the mice you don't want in the house. So I let him have his place, no more complaints from me.
I got a large upright freezer that didn't work and put it in the garage to store food in It works great. I also used a broken box freezer outside for animal feed.
I have put almost everything in plastic containers like you show here, but I didn't missed putting my tea in one, and the mice found that. Who would have thought a mouse would chew threw heavy plastic and then only contaminate the tea? They didn't eat it.
I volunteered at a Wildlife refuge where the veterinarians had to free many birds that got caught in those sticky traps. And they lost feathers in the process. Make sure they are used only indoors and away from pets.
I kept a freezer and frig. that died and made sure it was completely dry and I mean completely. I store everything I store for food storage including paper products like paper plates, plastic utensils and napkins in the garage in those. It's the best. I also have a finished basement so store some things there.
I am sorry this happened to you and Jim! I am grateful that you showed us this can happen to anyone. I will be checking my food storage tomorrow morning. Thank you.
Thank you for this and don't be embarrassed because they are opportunistic and there is nothing you do such as keeping a messy house or not that will cause them. This has been our reason I feel I cannot move beyond kitchen storage. I have been in this house 13 years and despite regular pest control we every so often are surprised by them infiltrating our basement and garage and causing damage. We had an HVAC duct chewed into and the garage gasket to the door. We will seal and they will find a new place. I have a 1902 home in a major city
I had fabric in a plastic container in storage. I also wasn’t thinking, but I had a full plastic container of hummingbird liquid near it in storage. Mice chewed through both. They made nests with my beautiful fabric and poop everywhere. Those sharp teeth can chew through anything
I feel for you. Last year we got hit hard with mice. They chewed labels off cans, emptyed boxes of cake mix, store brought broth empied. I had to wash cans and jars. I use containers to put things in to keep them away. It amazes me how destructive those little things are.
We recently had the same problem not only in the garage but they were in our house. They got into the powdered milk, boxes and envelope type packaging. Our food storage is in the house and they got into it as well. We were aggressive with traps and bait and it took about a month to get rid of them. Like Jim, we also ran to Walmart and bought the deeper bins to store the items in. We tossed everything that was damaged and sanitized really good. We’re keeping a close eye on things now.
Thank you very good.. I had this happen also in my outside storage. .Can be very discouraging.. Glad we all share some common similarities regardless where we live.. Kindness your way .. Lochness scottish Highlands..
For years, I have bought the popcorn tins they put out near Christmas. 🎄 😳 I put my chocolate and candy's in them, also my peanut butter. They are great to stack up. Be mindful of moisture because they can rust. I put Vaseline around the seems, bottom rim, and lid rims, just a light coating. In my kitchen, I store my brown sugar in a baggie, and then place in a flat round tin that came with cookies, and it never has turned hard. It is getting to be plastic now, so it is harder to find tins these days. I tried storing brown sugar in vacuum sealed mason jars, but it is harder to remove the compacted brown sugar. But I have stored this away for over 50 years. When feed in the barn was used, they were in metal trash cans with metal lids. Broken bail of hay was placed into large plastic bins with lids. I would check often under the trash can and bins because mice will tunnel underneath them and have their babies, and It's easy to get rid of newborn mice. I believe we all can make a difference in our personal experiences. Thank you for sharing this valuable information. ❤
Rodents do not like, and may be mildly allergic to, peppermint oil. Sprinkle some around, in corners and drawers. The place will smell like toothpaste, but the rodents will stay away.
Oh, Pam, there's no reason to be embarrassed! Mice, rats, squirrels, raccoons and all sorts of critters are everywhere and people are always scrambling to thwart them from getting into their homes and food. I'm glad you discovered their pilfering before they did any more damage, and I'm sure that by sharing this important information, you will help many people understand how to safeguard their own food storage. Thank you so much! ❤️
It happened to us too. We have to cleaned our garage like crazy. Thanks to many RUclipsrs they said mice cannot get into the glass jar so I save my foods in glass jar inside the house. Spaghetti sauce jars is the best.
When I first got my "Food Saver" I bagged up 200 pounds of sugar and put it into similar totes under the bed, thought it was safe, HA HA HA! A mouse got around traps, and bait and into the house, getting into the first bin and eating a hole straight through the middle of each bag then out of that tote and into the next till he-she had gone through the entire 200 pounds contaminating the entire lot. I still use food grade buckets for wheat and beans and have not had any trouble with them yet, but now everything else goes into metal or glass. By the way, a little steel wool stuffed into the hole before repair will deter the little @#$$'s from reopening the entry holes, seems that they don't like chewing through steel wool!
A prep storage should always be monitored by way of using items .. it's not for storing away completely. Use and replace. I pray this helps someone understand this process.
This is exactly the type of " heads up" we need to prepare for--mice and rats. Thank you, Pam and Jim!! I do not have any confidence in your plastic bins. Where i live we get both mice and rats. Rats chew thru plastc without problem. I think metal may be the only real solution for the food stores you had laid out on the counter. The problem is those cute little galvinized metal cans have domed lids. That means floor space. Ideas anyone? Yes, holiday popcorn bins would help as they have flat lids.
Steel Ammo storage containers are great for storing spice bottles and other plastic jars containing food. The mice can’t get through those containers. They’re relatively inexpensive and great for storing all kinds of goodies.
Thank you for having the honesty to demonstrate that even the most intelligent and well-meaning people can run into unexpected issues. I had a terrible mouse problem out in my (insulated, sheet-rocked) garage too. There was mouse crap all over my wood, my woodworking tools, they even chewed on the bristles of my bench brushes and knocked things off shelves... Until a Black snake moved in. The snake is not at all aggressive and given it's a non-venomous type, we have perfect detente. Sometimes blessings come in unexpected forms.
Thank you for sharing this with us. It's important for us to know & try to safeguard our foods. I noticed mice droppings for the 1st time recently myself. And like you, even though it's a bit embarrassing, I wanted to share it on my tiny channel today. I now use a metal file cabinet & a wooden wardrobe that was modified so I could store in. In hot Florida, we don't have the benefit of cellars or cool spaces. Love your videos & info. ❤
Good solution! I use those exact same bins to store bags of granola and different kinds of grains and flour in my pantry, and mice have never gotten into them in four years
I discovered today that rats, not mice decimated our five gallon Emergency Essential buckets and Gamma seal lids. We also had three buckets of 72 hour Emergency rations in square plastic totes as well. We have electronic rodent devices in the garage and they seem to work for awhile (about a year). We had stopped using DeCon because a few years ago our dog ate a dead rat, and she died of poisoning, The rat had died outside of the garage. I appreciate your sharing less toxic alternatives and we plan on getting enclosed in a rat proof metal cabinettes.
I also read a non-toxic tip that worked for us: add a bit of Plaster of Paris to your dry baking soda bait. I bought it @ the Walmart craft section. It makes them thirsty, & when they drink, their bowels become too hardened to live! It helps speed the kill-process up compared to just baking soda, so seems a bit more humane. Also, if a pet finds "the body ", the plaster is already hard & won't continue the kill-damage. I have a few farm pets & can attest they eat lots of gross things, despite me screaming to "drop it", & haven't lost a pet yet. Obviously, none of us should ingest or inhale the powder, so wear gloves (and mask cause it's a powder!) & tuck bait away from kids & pets while in the powder form!
I appreciate your willingness to show your problems and how you address them, as well as your plans and successes! Marks of a good teacher and one who truly wants to help folks! Just FYI for you and others, I sourced some processed icing buckets with lids that had seals. They are an opaque heavy plastic, and had to be cleaned well of course to make sure there was no residue on them, but seal quite tightly. In fact, I ended up purchasing an inexpensive tool like the bakery uses to open and reclose them to protect my fingers and due to arthritis. They have been great to put smaller items like dried fruit, powdered sugar bags (that I have washed off well, too of course), seasonings, etc. For my "blockier" items like flour which I vacuum seal, I use large clear bottomed storage totes which have straighter sides and in a size which I can still manage. Another thing I have found helpful is that for the clear totes, I can put a label INSIDE the container facing outwards, so it doesn't get torn off and no tape residue is great! For the opaque tubes, I use self-adhesive label holder "pockets" (and they come in various sizes from business card to full sheet size), so that I change out the label in the "pocket" if I swap what I'm storing in those containers. Just sharing those ideas with you and others since you help so many of us!
You would be surprised. Rats chewed into those THICK plastic garbage barrels where I stored my goat feeds in the barn. I am talking about the nice thick ones! We were shocked. Line your perimeter in black peppercorns. They will hook their teeth under the edges on those bins and start chewing.
Squirrls chewed throuch the 4 inch edge of a dumpster lid. If rodents want in they will win. The best container is metal. But if they can't smell something they don't know its there.
Rodents are everywhere, I'm in S FL, living on a canal. Big, healthy, even pretty Rats, are still destructive & invasive. I lined a storage closet with 1/8 " squares Hardware cloth, put all the paper boxes in ziplocks, then in empty kitty litter buckets, & drop peppermint & eucalyptus oil on cotton balls along the bottom of the door closing. Threw some Dried Bay Leaves in to discourage Moths, too. 2 years, so far so good...for that closet at least!
In the 16 years we've lived here, there's been one mouse. We always have three to five cats all who started life as feral cats. They're free to wander the house and pole barn. Mice don't have a chance! We also feed a colony of semi-ferals (all trapped and fixed). Two days ago one of them brought us a mouse from somewhere: we have large fields to the east and south of us. We trade cat treats for the "gift" before secretly disposing of it in one of the fields. IDK if you do this on longer storage items, but we date everything on the lid with the "best by" date. Even short term items have different dates so we're sure to grab the oldest one. I'm a little OCD so there's also a searchable spreadsheet. I love those clear bins!
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May I make a couple suggestions that have worked for me. First, as a rodent exterminator, mix peanut butter or other food they've been in, with cornmeal and BAKING SODA together. Set it out on a plate and let them eat. I'm not trying to be gross here, but rodents can't fart so when they drink the baking soda expands and they expire. Secondly, if you want to collect numerous plastic containers to repackage items, check with local restaurants, nursing homes and schools. They purchase in large quantities and the containers are usually thrown away. I go to the local sub shop and get one gallon GLASS jars. Thanks for the observations. I'll be checking out my cupboards soon!
The baking soda and cornmeal really works! Jiffy honey cornmeal in the box seems to work best for me.
Yes it does and I have passed that info to Jim also. @@susanbrittain7383
This is better than poison because other animals eat the rodents. It doesn't keep killing down the food chain.
Coca Cola also works. Only problem is where the vermin die: outside or inside your home?
We once had a mouse issue and this worked wonders for us. We put it inside a plastic container with a lid. We cut a hole inside the container and they fell for it.
Oh, Pan I would reconsider that. I live at the wood's edge in a house that is well over 100 years old. It has no rodent barriers, so I am constantly battling rodents. It was not a part of code back then like it is now. I have had mice chew through the thickness of 5-gallon plastic buckets before. I did two things to eliminate the problems I was having in my basement. First, I purchased a broken used upright freezer with the intent of using it as a storage cabinet. It works great and can even be locked. Mice cannot get inside of it, and it really helps to keep the things I'm storing in the dark and at a pretty constant even temperature. The other thing I did was purchased Behren's galvanized buckets with lids and 31-gallon galvanized trash cans. All of my foods that I store in mylar are inside of those buckets and cans. I have them all sitting on wooden pallets so that the metal does not eventually rust from trapped condensation. I know I can never eliminate my issues with mice given my location, but I have found that metal and glass mason jars are the only things that can completely protect my valuable food stores from rodents.
That is an EXCELLENT solution! I have a very old, extra fridge in the laundry room…barely chugging along. I wasn’t certain what to do with it. Repair would be costly. Even repaired, it gobbled up electricity.
You are a life saver, Richard!! And brilliant.
Thank you so much for taking the time to offer your suggestion!! I never would have thought of this.
Blessings to you!
I am trying to empty, then unplug one of my upright freezers as not to rely on frozen storage quite as much. This is an excellent idea for my short term storage that I am afraid could some day get rodent damage. This is such a terrific channel with super smart viewers with great ideas.
@richardmace5429... Did you use any barrier between the mylar bags and the galvanized buckets?
Those are some genius ideas! I keep collecting metal popcorn tins to store grains and legumes. Thrift stores sell them for 25cents
Great ideas!!! I do think it's the only way to defeat rats, galvanized cans.
Ms. Pam, I don’t know if you knew this or not but the food we buy at the store also gets compromised by rodents while it sits in the warehouses. Just a heads up to wash the tops of cans.
You are absolutely right. I wash off the entire can, though.
I worry about products in paper and cardboard. For a long time, birds were getting into our Walmart from the unloading docks. They'd fly around and sit on the shelves. I don't know what they did but there haven't been birds around for years now. Not so sure about mice in the food storage area.
my mom always washed the tops, i'll start doing that
@@barbaram5787 Stores put poisoned corn out for the birds.
I always wash everything because I am familiar with the rodent issue in warehouses.
If you have a cat patrolling your food storage, make sure there's space around your shelves so the cat can actually reach the mouse. 👍
I think it's great that, despite some embarrassment, you keep it real and tell it like it is to help the community. Imho there is no need to be embarrassed. Mice are equal opportunity invaders and no one is immune from their attacks. To quote a very wise woman, "Knowledge is power."
Hahahahaha. "equal opportunity invaders". lol. LOL. Hahahaha.
We Love Your Honesty! 💗💗💗
We recently got a mouser kitten. Born of a barn-cat mama. She really patrols our property well.
Try making a mixture of sweet cornbread
mix and baking soda 50 -50%and see if that fixes your problem with your problem as bait for mice 👍
Re. cats: Remember that not all cats are hunters. A mouser is a cat that has been raised and taught by it's mother to kill.
I got two kittens born from a feral hunter. One of them killed its first mouse when it was only four months old. They instinctively know what to do.
I don’t think they automatically know what to do even though they might be born with a natural instinct to hunt, I think they have to learn how to use it to their advantage. I adopted a 10 weeks old kitten who was born to a feral mother living in the streets her entire life. She was eventually trapped, neutered then released but the litter was taken away and adopted out. My boy is now 3 years old and a complete indoors cat; he’s fascinated by anything that creeps, crawls, moves or flies about but he’ll only stare at it for ages giving it a playful swat now and again, sniff it and walk away looking at me as if to say do something about this! 🤣🤣 He was never taught to hunt and kill and has no idea that it’s prey and what to do about it. I guess his instincts could eventually kick in again if he ever found himself lost in the wild and have survive but that’s never going to happen!! 😂 Strangely though, he’s an ace fly spotter and catcher. 🪰🐈⬛🐾🐾😻🥰❤️
We have a male cat and a dog both are useless when the rats were getting in. The only thing they did do was kinda give away the spot they were getting in at.
I have used bins like these. The mice are detered, but rats or squirrels are not slowed in the least. Always a battle to keep food safe.
True. I had bird seed stored in a plastic bin in the garage, and the rats nibbled away at the area where the lid joins the base until they could enter the bin. So I bought a large metal toolbox to store the seed and no more issues.
Metal trash cans work well.
Squirrel damage is terrible.
For the items that you don't like to lay them down, here's a tip. Put them in the container all going in the same direction. When you put it on the shelf, just stand it up. You can always switch them out as you come across larger, taller containers
I am in the middle of cleaning up from mouse damage and have been cleaning for 2 weeks now. I have washed everything! I tore apart the room until I found where they were coming in at. My word I have never been so mad and sad at the same time! They put a hole in 2 gallons of oil and 12 boxes of shelf stable milk. I can't even tell you how disgusting the clean up is. Last year we had an awful explosion of mice like I have never seen before. We have a partial dirt basement and they went through so much the year before so I brought everything upstairs to a back room and in the closet we have an old chimney that was closed off from the rest of the closet and that is where they were getting in from the basement to the main floor. I have moved most food in glass jars now and I am ready with 25 lbs of one bite poison waiting for them this year! I don't wish death on anything except roaches, flies,snakes and MICE!!!!
my story is similar, in 2021 moved into a old house, there were droppings in the kitchen, sealed off plenty spaces by laundry, under sinks, a hole in wall next to an unfinished closet. I thought that was fixed then by fall i heard them scurrying around in walls and eek saw some. Got blow in insulation wherever i could, bought a boatload of poison and to this day live only in 2 rooms and have closed off rest of house bc i freak out with mice. The sad part is the bedroom i planned for my survival pantry was nixed. I keep most everything in glass, plastic cont .only in my view. Keep beans, rice, things like that in gal. glass jugs. I saw how a mouse here chewed up foam insulation trying to get out, couldnt and then died. We have a chimney, closed off, not used and i believe they are getting up from under the house there. Plus i don't heat those rooms to deter them, tho my freezer is in a cold room i found a mouse run out bc he felt warmth from motor. For people who have freezers in their garage, mice can damage them chewing. I lost a lot of dog food that now i keep in double heavy duty plastic cont. I swear they smell a mile away food and don't underestimate rats can be there, urban or rural. It's a constant vigil, i feel what you went thru.
Poison goes down the food chain for animals.
I would add--fire ants!
I hate all those too , my husband hates snakes the worst killed a rat snake the other day without checking it out first. Ugh I'm more scared of spiders. Thanks for all info here. I'll start checking my stash in morning, this is first year I've prepped as much.
They will come upstairs be careful
We have also run into situations with mice. We find that the easiest way is to put anything that is not in a glass container into a plastic tote (and we opted to get heavier totes). Mice will find a way. We had a thick container of plastic (tupperware) and they got through it. We also prefer traps to bait. If a mouse eats poison and get caught by a bird or mammal, that creature can suffer.
You are so right! The damage and death to our wildlife from mouse and rat baits is horrible. All raptors, wild cats even opossums are killed by baited rodents. Opossums and raccoons will eat dead rodents and die themselves. There are far better ways to combat rodents than bait. Plaster of Paris homemade bait is a good one, Mouse-X is good but I do not recommend Rat-X. Both of these baits dehydrate the animal and they die. Rats are smarter than mice so after a bit they learn to go after the roots of your crops to get their moisture which they don't need much of. Ask me how I know. Dry ice is also a great rodent killer if you can find their holes. We had a rat invasion from a nearby home being renovated, Rat-X worked great for 2 months until they got smart and went after our garden, the roots only, right at harvest. After spending over a month staying up at night shooting them with a pellet gun I was desperate for another way. Dry ice! In our case the majority of the rats lived under a shed, dry ice placed in the holes as far down as we could poke it and then covering those holes killed just about 100% of the rats. As the dry ice "melts" it becomes gas looking for the lowest level which replaced the oxygen with carbon dioxide and killed those rats. The smell was not great but since it was late fall early winter we didn't experience it like we would have in summer. Bottom line it worked! In one fell swoop and no other animals suffered with unintentional poisoning. Win win.
There are also rat/mouse buckets that drown them. Works best on mice and small rats, the big ones can stretch to get the bait. Rodents are definitely a plague. 🌷
@@sharonjones7674 Great info...thanks. I too wont use bait....it impacts the raptors in our area...along with other wildlife as there is a secondary kill issue with this method. Mousetrap Monday is an excellent information site to help with rodent infestation. We are all trying to do our part to save our wildlife!!!
Also, poisoned mice will die inside your walls and smell terrible.
I have a cattery.
27, all rescues and fixed.
Plus 7 feral s I also care for.
Haven't seen a live roach, bug or snake or mouse near or in my home, except for an occasional dead mouse or lizard they proudly give me to eat.
It's sweet and hilarious they think about me.
We have 3 outdoor cats and I now have mice problems since I started my food storage in our home. It is time to have a good chat with them. We also have an indoor cat who is a good mouser, but she is allergic to flee bites even with good prescribed prevention meds. Eventually she will need medical (treatment). It is something that with her it is just unavoidable. But she is a good mouser.
@@chelinfusco6403 Don't free feed cats. Just twice per day wet food and feed nothing on Sunday .
Zoos do that with all their obligate carnivores to keep them healthy.
Domestic house cats are also obligate carnivores.
Throw that dry food in the trash!
Do not want a dead mouse in your wall. If the mouse eats the bait, will he die in the wall. The smell of them decaying is horrible.
Tell me about it! Had that happen once, and it went on for a couple months. Awful! It may have been a rat. That is why I don't like things like that. I now use traps.
Our food storage is our number 1 priority. We live in a very small house. So room is at a premium. After a mouse infestation 5 years ago in our garage, we ended up converting a spare bedroom closet and a linen closet for our food storage. We also emptied out a few kitchen cabinets. All food gets repackaged into glass jars with metal lids. They’re easy to check on and access now. The stuff that was in those closets and cabinets were things that we didn’t really use that much. They went to where we used to store our food. With no food in the garage we haven’t had mice since! Thankful they have not ever been in the house! But still everything is stored in glass, just in case!
Very nice solution! Thanks for sharing.
@@RoseRedHomestead also, please don’t be embarrassed! It happens to all of us- at some point or another! Thank you for keeping real life in view! ❤️
Our city has a big rat problem. I was so embarrassed when they started visiting our chickens. When the rodent guy showed up and made it very clear that we were doing everything right, and this is a greater issue than any 1 person. It helped me a lot to hear that.
We had similar problems in our basement storage and went to the same solution. We always see a burst of rodent activity in the fall as the mice move inside for the winter. Well done. 👍
Hi Pam, thank you for all your knowledge sharing. I would like to share that my husband and i have our own sheds. His became loaded with mice he tried traps all kinds of things that did not help. Mine is about 20' max away from his. Not one mouse dropping or any sign of mice. We just emptied my shed this weekend to make better use of the space. This is how I am so certain. It has been 8 yrs that I have had this shed and no mice. What did I do? Someone told me they hate moth balls. Moth balls today come with little netted bags with the balls in them they are not loose like years ago. I simply lay the bags on the floors (. I am very generous with them). I don't have food out there but neither does my husband. So if you do that I would just keep them away from any food just in mylar or plastic. The moth balls smell won't penetrate your containers. I don't even have squirrels or anything in mine. Hope this helps.
Moth balls are highly toxic to humans.
Mothballs are toxic. Please find something else to use. Peppermint can be very rffective.
You two are the absolute best! This is exactly why I love your channel so much. You are very open to sharing these valuable lessons with us, and these are really life-changing issues. When it gets right down to the bottom line - if someone like me has a rodent problem and I don't know it, if the world turns upside down again, I could very well go out to my storage area and find all my food completely ruined. No food, no water, no nothing....equals disaster. Because of this video alone, I know to check my food storage regularly, I know the signs to look for, and if there is a problem, I know how to fix it. Thank you for your transparency, and your wonderful lessons!!
I am not sure, but I think the reason that you have not had any rodents chew into your plastic bins or buckets is because they did not have to. They simply ate the foods you just showed us. Rodents and other animals are definitely able to chew through the plastic bins, and 5 gallon buckets. Anything that is not in a metal can, I either put in a glass jar or a large metal tin like popcorn comes in during the holidays. You can also buy a large new metal garbage can to keep food from rodents.
Yes, I went through that years ago, so now things either go into glass, or those popcorn tins, or the small metal trash cans (think they are 5 and 10 gallon). We have had mice get in, but at one time even had rats get in, so everything has to be put into those kinds of containers.
I have thirteen 55-gallon metal drums with removable tops full of food storage. Also found on Craigslist 9 old metal school lockers that we put shelves in, and that's where we keep paper products and cardboard boxed food items. Rodent proof!
We had honey and wheat in 5gallon metal cans stored in our crawl space. The rodents gnawed through the metal!
Agreed. Mice when hungry enough and a few days of not being trapped, plastic is chewed thru. I lost beautiful baby memories in a rubbermaid.
If it's rat or squirrels...any plastic is NOT safe. Glass jars and metal trash cans are the best storage.
Thank you for sharing this video! It’s an excellent reminder to keep looking for evidence of rodent damage.
I vacuum sealed everything before I put it in food storage buckets. I caught a mouse a few months ago with sticky paper. And I have a couple of lizards catching all the bugs. So far, I'm lucky.
Put your card on the inside against the plastic so you can read it from the side. That way, you can change the contents without making a label mess on the container.
Hi Pam, Thank you so much for sharing your experience and showing that this can happen to even the most prepared people! Sorry this happened to you!
I'd save that peanut butter and set a lot of traps! 😁 Seems to be a winner at catching them.
We have had to use galvanized garbage cans with labels on the outside to store our supplies in. It can be a bit of a pain to retrieve the items at the bottom, but they haven't failed us yet. Thank you for the knowledge you share with us!👍💕
Thank you for sharing this and normalizing challenges that we all have, but are socialized not to discuss. We recently had a rat come up through a sewer drain that has not been properly sealed after an inspection by the city. The damage caused by just one was astounding! They are bold, smart creatures. This one even chewed through plumbing pipes to get to water. It cost us over $1000 to fix the damage and another couple hundred in food loss. But it was a valuable lesson in preparedness- we had never considered rats before, but we have changed our storage and equipped ourselves for yet another possibility.
That happened to me a few months ago in my garage. I had no clue until I saw a hole in some flour. I’m so sorry to hear this.
I feel ya, I am cleaning up a big mess myself...
Thank you for sharing that things go wrong for you too.
We mix baking soda with a little cornmeal to help control the rodents. Set it out in a container with a lid and a little hole in the side for them to crawl in. It gives them gas they can't pass that builds up in their intestines and they die. The mixture won't harm other animals like pets and farm animals.
It is one thing I tried from the internet that worked.
I had knee issues this spring, which was very wet. Mine is in the basement. Well I went down when I could and mice had and were there!! I ended up throwing so much away. Everything are now in totes! I’m still cleaning it up! I’m sorry you are going through this, it’s a nightmare!
So sorry 😞
I empathize with you! I battled rats in my house after years of illness kept me in bed. Battling rats is not for the faint of heart!! I pray you get the assistance you need to solve your dilema.
We use brand new metal garbage cans with lids to keep rodents away, we label what is inside and have not had any issues.
Get peppermint oil and put it on cotton balls. Put it in the area where the your food storage is. You have to repeat every 3 weeks. But 10 minutes every 3 works. You won’t see mouse dropping if you do this.
For 13 years we lived in an old farmhouse in the middle of hundreds of acres of farmland. With every spring planting and fall harvest we got inundated with field mice. The stacked stone foundation provided lots of crevices and the plumbing runs became their highway. We baited, trapped, stuffed voids with steel wool and even got cats. The mice kept coming.
Why do you think that our villages have a regular pest control every 3 month against rats? Oh yes, nobody ever had rats if you ask...
Try putting out baking soda mixed with a little cornmeal. It helped us. If you haven't heard of it, the baking soda gives them gas. Mice can't pass gas, and it build up in their intestines and kill them, but it won't hurt any of your animals.
We had a similar problem happen with our food storage last year. I was shocked, appalled and embarrassed. The extent without me knowing, I couldn't even understand. We had to throw out a lot of stuff. Now we only keep cans or jars there if I can't actively keep an eye on them.
The battle is never ending when you live on the edge of wilderness.
Don't feel bad about where you live. We live in suburbia and the mice have loved us. :(
Oh how awful! So sorry this happened. Please make sure you do get the crisco in an upright position before summer and heat hits. I'd be concerned about leaking.
We converted the bedroom closest to the kitchen into a pantry. Still inside and and safe.
I’ve never had these problems because I’ve always had a cat. When I got divorced and moved out with my cat my ex was overrun and overwhelmed with mice. 😂 He doesn’t want a cat but he’s putting food out for neighbor cats all the time now. It helps. So sorry for your loss of such great items.
Sorry that happened but thanks for showing the rest of us so we can learn a thing or 2!!!!!!
We live in FL so storage in a garage is impossible due to extreme heat and we have no basements. Like you, we are retired and it’s just the two of us, so We took one of our two walk in closet in our BR and built floor to ceiling shelves to house our food storage. Problem solved and no lizards, snakes, bugs or rodents.
Have you thought of getting a metal garbage can with a tight fitting lid?
Saw one of these at Walmart yesterday.
I recently had this problem in an extra pantry closet in my house. What a shock when I opened the closet door and saw all of the mice droppings and noodles and other items that were in plastic bags laying on my shelf. I had to throw away quite a few items. The items that weren't touched and were in plastic bags or cardboard boxed were put in tubs. The items in glass are back on the shelf in the pantry after a good cleaning. It's only the second mouse we have had after living in our house for 20 years.
Thanks for sharing!! They are so sneaky!
Don’t be embarrassed. I lived on the farm with a dirt cellar in my youth. They have collapsible spines. That’s why they can go almost anywhere, and they did.
I live in town now and suddenly have them in my garage. My old cat lives out there, but they’ve still settled in. I have put out traps, but will now also be using the baking soda trick. Thank you for the reminder.
Sweet Friends! DO NOT be embarrassed! Rodents plague most of us. We've had to sterilize our garage level 3 shelves twice. We always have traps set, uh until I compromise them! lol I seem to be drawn to them while working in the garage. Bless you for sharing and keeping us informed and encouraged!
Thank you so much! We appreciate your comment.
Pam, we are building a home off grid and mice are abundant. My husband sprayed a spray insulation foam into any cracks or seam that is specifically made for bugs and rodents. I also have issues in my house in town. I have mouse hotels with bait outside my garage door and near the entrances inside my garage. I am adamant about not leaving the garage door open when we are doing yard work. We open and close it when needed. That has really helped keeping the mice under control. I also use food grade buckets with gamma lids to store beans,rice, pasta in.
Poison, sorry. Nothing else helps. Rats had been biting through the thin layer of concrete (!) in our former pig stable.
The rodents can eat through your 5-gallon buckets.
Sorru for the loss and thank you for sharing
We've never seen a mouse at our home, we have a cat! Small investment that pays back with loyal patrolling and lots of unconditional love. She was a rescue, found on the streets of Jacksonville, FL.
To keep rodents out of the garage, I've put cotton balls soaked in either peppermint or clove essential oil. They were ruining the hardwoods my husband was using for wood working...So far so good.
Spray peppermint oil in and around anywhere you don't want mice/rats. Peppermint leaves work too. Just have to renew every month or so. Planting mint around buildings/house will do the same. An added plus is it keeps snakes away too.
I have four species of kingsnakes at my house. I don’t want to deter their presence. I would encourage them to multiply if I knew how. I live in diamondback rattlesnake and copperhead region and we haven’t seen one venomous snake.
I was going to suggest the peppermint oil too. I add drops to all the cabinets in my kitchen also.
@@dw387- I have coachwhip snakes in my garden. They scare the bejezus out of me, but I let them be. They prey on rattlesnakes. The rats and mice are terrible this year.
Snakes prey on mice! Cats & owls do too! We have non venomous black snakes around our property. The cats are skittish near the porch, so I know they are nearby hunting for mice!
Yes, this works well. That, and adding a half or quarter bar of peppermint soap to each bin works great, too!
Hi Jim and Pam. That’s a hard lesson we all learn. Glass jars work and vacuum seal the jars. Alaska Granny does a lot with glass jars and you might want to check her out. I love that you showed us the true facts of food storage. Always a challenge. We are always fighting humidity,temperatures, and the bugs and mice. Ugh!! Glass jars were my answer. Great video!!
If you are going to BUILD some cabinets, or are handy with DIY, use zink sheets to line your cabinets or food storage closet.
My grandmother had a cottage in Ontario, Canada. Very rustic. There is simply no way to keep rodents out during the long winters. The only thing we can do is protect everything we can.
Our linen closet is lined with zink sheet metal. The cabin was build in the early 60's. Some 50 years later, no rodent has made it into the linen cabinet to make a cozy home in sheets, towels, blankets, pillows etc.
Oh how we wish she had lined the pantry with zink! Last year food was left in the pantry, and the squirrels found a way in. It took a week to clean up. All the food was destroyed, but the damage to the shelves was also considerable. They also made homes in some of the furniture. We kept finding damage throughout the summer.
If I was going to build a food storage closet, I would line the interior of all the cabinets with zink. I think zink is fairly soft and somewhat easy to manipulate, so existing shelves/cabinets etc could be lined with sheets of zink by determined DIYers.
I've read online that mice/rats don't like the sound or smell of aluminum foil or black pepper. So maybe you could look into that for further research. It was said that you can add pepper/peppercorns inside bins of all sizes that you have food items in a pack away. Also consider lining the shelves with foil and wrap around in strips on the 4 posts from top to bottom. You can take balled up foil and place them underneath and all around the food areas. One last way I know of would be to buy a galvanized aluminum garbage can with a tight fitting lid, arrange food to fill to the top. If need be, place something heavy to hold the lid down or use bungee straps to hook from 1 handle to the other across the lid. Put pepper/cayenne and or foil under and around buckets to deter. Squirrels don't like the smell of vinegar, ground cinnamon, pepper, chili powder or garlic. I found all of this online doing different Google searches. Hope this helps anyone who reads this. Baking soda mixed with powdered sugar is also a good way to get rid of mice for good, they'll explode internally! @vmmiller is right about the soda. Thanks for sharing with us!
The plastic bins work great. one word of advice is to watch the top of the bin for droppings before you open it or fling it around.
Suggestion. Instead of a card on the outside where mice could get to the card, why not put the card on the inside facing out. Since the containers are easy to see through it seems it might be a good idea. Also I know certain bugs are attracted to paper products.
Great idea! Thanks.
Here in a Houston suburb on our 12 ac. Horse farm we have had many battles with rodents. We have used the super tough round cattle feed lick tubs with latch down lids. Rats have eaten through in one night!!! The bottom and rim is super thick. We store our horse feeds in them. I make up my own horse feed formula for 25+ years. Metal is the only way we can protect our stuff!!! I guess Texas rats are monsters on steroids!!! They have gotten into our guest house and office and destroyed our a/c duct work. We are now trying the heavy duty sticky pads. Found them on Amazon. They aren't humane but desperate measures. I'm 69 and tired of the rat battle.
Love your videos and share with family, friends, and ward family. Plus I'm loving my new Ankersrum. Such a blessing.
Thanks for all you do
Eva
Thank you for all of your sensible, practical advice! One idea: I buy large metal trash bins, as they can hold much food, and no pests can penetrate them. I have lots of sealed mylar bags in there, and trust them more than the plastic buckets. It's a bit more hassle, and I have to keep a list of what's inside or it's easy to lose track, but worth the peace of mind to me.
Hi, Pam. We store certain grains and sunflower seeds in 5-gallon buckets with the normal, cheap lids. Mice break into those almost immediately around the edge of the lid, destroying the lid.
I have never seen them get into a Gamma lid.
I had rats chew through some heavy duty Rubbermaid totes to get sunflower seeds I keep for my chickens. Put them in 20 gal metal garbage cans
@@vickybullock6036 Yes, we now keep everything like that in 31-gallon galvanized cans. We keep our organic rabbit pellets in use in 5-gallon food grade buckets with Gamma lids. Extra, unopened bags of pellets also go into 31-gallon metal cans.
Works like a charm. ❤️
Rats could.
@@JayP-kd5rc But we haven’t seen that.
Dr Pam, great vid! Hoo boy…this is a perennial problem that most of us have…and even more incentive to stop using plastic containers. I was horrified to learn that only 9% of the plastic we recycle actually gets used - the rest is building up in giant warehouses all around the world. Then there are all the micro plastics permeating the oceans, getting in our food, etc. I try to buy goods in glass or cardboard, and repackage, as you do, into glass or metal. The Plastic/Petroleum Industry is making it awfully difficult! Encouraging natural predators such as owls and snakes helps too!
Thanks for your comment!
I’m glad you are addressing this here. I, too, only have my garage to store much of our food. It is a constant battle, and I hate wasting food and money.
Thanks for sharing this unpleasant experience. This information would help many people. Wishing you future rodent-proof vessels.
Thanks for the video! I just cleaned up same problem. Solution for me is mouse traps and leaving the pantry room door open and encouraging my exterminator crew to work! Two mouser cats!
We use galvanized metal trash containers to keep rodents out.
Thank you so much for this "heads up!"
Maybe stack some bins on their ends to put the contents upright inside. This is a great idea for me to use bins for storage in the deep corners of my kitchen cabinets. When I lived on farmland, I made friends with the black snake. My first thought was to relocate him far away...but then my husband said, he's here to eat the mice you don't want in the house. So I let him have his place, no more complaints from me.
Interesting, Jim
Excellent video. Thanks so very much. I had no idea mice could chew through such things.
I got a large upright freezer that didn't work and put it in the garage to store food in It works great. I also used a broken box freezer outside for animal feed.
I watch some of these pantry type videos, and boy oh boy, so many of them have set up a real smorgasbord for rodents!
I have put almost everything in plastic containers like you show here, but I didn't missed putting my tea in one, and the mice found that. Who would have thought a mouse would chew threw heavy plastic and then only contaminate the tea? They didn't eat it.
Thank you for sharing this information.
One of our chest freezers quit. Instead of taking it to the dump I cleaned it out and use it for dry good storage and freeze dry inventory
We have had rodents get into those heavy duty black plastic storage containers that have the yellow lids! They are tenacious!
I had a rodent issues a couple years ago, I now keep traps baited & set 24/7 365 days a year! Sticky traps on shelves are a must!
Sticky traps are cruel.
@@t.k3025 I hate rats but I’d never use a sticky trap to catch them or anything else. Too cruel.
@@t.k3025 what is cruel today will be common should people truly need to feed there families. People with precious pet should keep this in mind.
@@rosemaryogilvie6842 as these rodents spread disease to your family a little cruelty to them will be the last thing you worry about.
I volunteered at a Wildlife refuge where the veterinarians had to free many birds that got caught in those sticky traps. And they lost feathers in the process. Make sure they are used only indoors and away from pets.
I kept a freezer and frig. that died and made sure it was completely dry and I mean completely. I store everything I store for food storage including paper products like paper plates, plastic utensils and napkins in the garage in those. It's the best. I also have a finished basement so store some things there.
La few years ago we had mice eat through plastic bucket of grass seed in our lawn mower garage
I am sorry this happened to you and Jim! I am grateful that you showed us this can happen to anyone. I will be checking my food storage tomorrow morning. Thank you.
Thank you for this and don't be embarrassed because they are opportunistic and there is nothing you do such as keeping a messy house or not that will cause them. This has been our reason I feel I cannot move beyond kitchen storage. I have been in this house 13 years and despite regular pest control we every so often are surprised by them infiltrating our basement and garage and causing damage. We had an HVAC duct chewed into and the garage gasket to the door. We will seal and they will find a new place. I have a 1902 home in a major city
I had fabric in a plastic container in storage. I also wasn’t thinking, but I had a full plastic container of hummingbird liquid near it in storage. Mice chewed through both. They made nests with my beautiful fabric and poop everywhere. Those sharp teeth can chew through anything
I feel for you. Last year we got hit hard with mice. They chewed labels off cans, emptyed boxes of cake mix, store brought broth empied. I had to wash cans and jars. I use containers to put things in to keep them away. It amazes me how destructive those little things are.
We recently had the same problem not only in the garage but they were in our house. They got into the powdered milk, boxes and envelope type packaging. Our food storage is in the house and they got into it as well. We were aggressive with traps and bait and it took about a month to get rid of them. Like Jim, we also ran to Walmart and bought the deeper bins to store the items in. We tossed everything that was damaged and sanitized really good. We’re keeping a close eye on things now.
Thank you very good.. I had this happen also in my outside storage. .Can be very discouraging.. Glad we all share some common similarities regardless where we live.. Kindness your way .. Lochness scottish Highlands..
I'm not the only Scot following 😁 Nairn, Scottish Highlands.
For years, I have bought the popcorn tins they put out near Christmas. 🎄 😳 I put my chocolate and candy's in them, also my peanut butter. They are great to stack up. Be mindful of moisture because they can rust. I put Vaseline around the seems, bottom rim, and lid rims, just a light coating. In my kitchen, I store my brown sugar in a baggie, and then place in a flat round tin that came with cookies, and it never has turned hard. It is getting to be plastic now, so it is harder to find tins these days. I tried storing brown sugar in vacuum sealed mason jars, but it is harder to remove the compacted brown sugar. But I have stored this away for over 50 years. When feed in the barn was used, they were in metal trash cans with metal lids. Broken bail of hay was placed into large plastic bins with lids. I would check often under the trash can and bins because mice will tunnel underneath them and have their babies, and It's easy to get rid of newborn mice. I believe we all can make a difference in our personal experiences. Thank you for sharing this valuable information. ❤
Rodents do not like, and may be mildly allergic to, peppermint oil. Sprinkle some around, in corners and drawers. The place will smell like toothpaste, but the rodents will stay away.
Thanks for the tip!
Oh, Pam, there's no reason to be embarrassed! Mice, rats, squirrels, raccoons and all sorts of critters are everywhere and people are always scrambling to thwart them from getting into their homes and food.
I'm glad you discovered their pilfering before they did any more damage, and I'm sure that by sharing this important information, you will help many people understand how to safeguard their own food storage. Thank you so much! ❤️
It happened to us too. We have to cleaned our garage like crazy. Thanks to many RUclipsrs they said mice cannot get into the glass jar so I save my foods in glass jar inside the house. Spaghetti sauce jars is the best.
When I first got my "Food Saver" I bagged up 200 pounds of sugar and put it into similar totes under the bed, thought it was safe, HA HA HA! A mouse got around traps, and bait and into the house, getting into the first bin and eating a hole straight through the middle of each bag then out of that tote and into the next till he-she had gone through the entire 200 pounds contaminating the entire lot. I still use food grade buckets for wheat and beans and have not had any trouble with them yet, but now everything else goes into metal or glass.
By the way, a little steel wool stuffed into the hole before repair will deter the little @#$$'s from reopening the entry holes, seems that they don't like chewing through steel wool!
A prep storage should always be monitored by way of using items .. it's not for storing away completely. Use and replace. I pray this helps someone understand this process.
This is exactly the type of
" heads up" we need to prepare for--mice and rats. Thank you, Pam and Jim!!
I do not have any confidence in your plastic bins. Where i live we get both mice and rats. Rats chew thru plastc without problem. I think metal may be the only real solution for the food stores you had laid out on the counter. The problem is those cute little galvinized metal cans have domed lids. That means floor space.
Ideas anyone? Yes, holiday popcorn bins would help as they have flat lids.
True!
You could always build a strong shelving unit that they can fit on.
Steel Ammo storage containers are great for storing spice bottles and other plastic jars containing food. The mice can’t get through those containers. They’re relatively inexpensive and great for storing all kinds of goodies.
If you have to put out mouse traps, they like jelly better than peanut butter. Works each time.
Mice and rats would be in our shipments from China and Vietnam at Joann fabrics. Mostly in seasonal procducts.
Thank you for having the honesty to demonstrate that even the most intelligent and well-meaning people can run into unexpected issues. I had a terrible mouse problem out in my (insulated, sheet-rocked) garage too. There was mouse crap all over my wood, my woodworking tools, they even chewed on the bristles of my bench brushes and knocked things off shelves... Until a Black snake moved in. The snake is not at all aggressive and given it's a non-venomous type, we have perfect detente. Sometimes blessings come in unexpected forms.
Thanks for the information. Jim
@@ArizonaSunsetsUSA All you have to do is live someplace where they're native and not kill them when they show up.
Thank you for sharing this with us. It's important for us to know & try to safeguard our foods. I noticed mice droppings for the 1st time recently myself. And like you, even though it's a bit embarrassing, I wanted to share it on my tiny channel today. I now use a metal file cabinet & a wooden wardrobe that was modified so I could store in.
In hot Florida, we don't have the benefit of cellars or cool spaces. Love your videos & info. ❤
@@ArizonaSunsetsUSA That is a very good idea. I did mention it to my parents who live on the same property. Thank you so much.
Good solution! I use those exact same bins to store bags of granola and different kinds of grains and flour in my pantry, and mice have never gotten into them in four years
I discovered today that rats, not mice decimated our five gallon Emergency Essential buckets and Gamma seal lids. We also had three buckets of 72 hour Emergency rations in square plastic totes as well. We have electronic rodent devices in the garage and they seem to work for awhile (about a year). We had stopped using DeCon because a few years ago our dog ate a dead rat, and she died of poisoning, The rat had died outside of the garage. I appreciate your sharing less toxic alternatives and we plan on getting enclosed in a rat proof metal cabinettes.
I also read a non-toxic tip that worked for us: add a bit of Plaster of Paris to your dry baking soda bait. I bought it @ the Walmart craft section. It makes them thirsty, & when they drink, their bowels become too hardened to live! It helps speed the kill-process up compared to just baking soda, so seems a bit more humane. Also, if a pet finds "the body ", the plaster is already hard & won't continue the kill-damage. I have a few farm pets & can attest they eat lots of gross things, despite me screaming to "drop it", & haven't lost a pet yet. Obviously, none of us should ingest or inhale the powder, so wear gloves (and mask cause it's a powder!) & tuck bait away from kids & pets while in the powder form!
I appreciate your willingness to show your problems and how you address them, as well as your plans and successes! Marks of a good teacher and one who truly wants to help folks! Just FYI for you and others, I sourced some processed icing buckets with lids that had seals. They are an opaque heavy plastic, and had to be cleaned well of course to make sure there was no residue on them, but seal quite tightly. In fact, I ended up purchasing an inexpensive tool like the bakery uses to open and reclose them to protect my fingers and due to arthritis. They have been great to put smaller items like dried fruit, powdered sugar bags (that I have washed off well, too of course), seasonings, etc. For my "blockier" items like flour which I vacuum seal, I use large clear bottomed storage totes which have straighter sides and in a size which I can still manage. Another thing I have found helpful is that for the clear totes, I can put a label INSIDE the container facing outwards, so it doesn't get torn off and no tape residue is great! For the opaque tubes, I use self-adhesive label holder "pockets" (and they come in various sizes from business card to full sheet size), so that I change out the label in the "pocket" if I swap what I'm storing in those containers. Just sharing those ideas with you and others since you help so many of us!
Excellent labeling tips! Thanks 🍀
You would be surprised. Rats chewed into those THICK plastic garbage barrels where I stored my goat feeds in the barn. I am talking about the nice thick ones! We were shocked. Line your perimeter in black peppercorns. They will hook their teeth under the edges on those bins and start chewing.
Not surprised to hear that...wow!
Thank you !
Squirrls chewed throuch the 4 inch edge of a dumpster lid. If rodents want in they will win. The best container is metal. But if they can't smell something they don't know its there.
Rodents are everywhere, I'm in S FL, living on a canal. Big, healthy, even pretty Rats, are still destructive & invasive. I lined a storage closet with 1/8 " squares Hardware cloth, put all the paper boxes in ziplocks, then in empty kitty litter buckets, & drop peppermint & eucalyptus oil on cotton balls along the bottom of the door closing. Threw some Dried Bay Leaves in to discourage Moths, too. 2 years, so far so good...for that closet at least!
Thanks for sharing
thank you
In the 16 years we've lived here, there's been one mouse. We always have three to five cats all who started life as feral cats. They're free to wander the house and pole barn. Mice don't have a chance! We also feed a colony of semi-ferals (all trapped and fixed). Two days ago one of them brought us a mouse from somewhere: we have large fields to the east and south of us. We trade cat treats for the "gift" before secretly disposing of it in one of the fields. IDK if you do this on longer storage items, but we date everything on the lid with the "best by" date. Even short term items have different dates so we're sure to grab the oldest one. I'm a little OCD so there's also a searchable spreadsheet. I love those clear bins!