You may remember, last February we discovered there had been a mouse in our house nibbling at 2 packages of food. We never did find the little critter. He may have slipped out as quietly as he stole in.
In response to this discovery, we put absolutely every food item that was not already in a can, glass jar, or hard plastic container into the various freezers and fridges of our home.
This was our first encounter with mice. We have seen rats in our area, but not mice. However, this summer, we discovered a family of mice living in our garage and a mouse or two was spotted near our garden.
We took care of the family of mice that we discovered in the garage, but for all we know, there are more just waiting for the opportunity to come inside for a savory repast in my pantry.
The weather is cooling. Soon the nights will be rather chilly, and the outdoor food sources will become scarce. My plan is to make sure that even if a mouse did find its way into our house, my pantry would be as inhospitable to the tiny diner as possible, while still maintaining the ability for me to easily prepare human meals.
I buy large bags (25 to 50-lb) of pantry staples, such as rice, flour, oats, and beans. A paper bag is flimsy protection from chewing critters. I could go out and buy more, large plastic containers, such as the one in the photo above. These are very nice containers. They're sturdy, thick-walled, and seal well. However, they also cost about $25 each. This is expensive for my current budget. So, I am using what I have to secure our pantry staples.
I've mentioned using the institutional-sized, plastic jugs in which my vegetable oil comes packaged, like the one above. The sturdiness of the plastic jugs is reinforced with an outer cardboard box.
Once I finish the oil, I wash it out and allow it to dry. After it has thoroughly dried, I can fill it with some of the pantry staples.
This past week, I emptied the last 35-lb jug of vegetable oil and readied it for the 25-lb bag of rolled oats that I purchased in summer. I am now up to 3 of these large jugs for pantry storage, holding the rolled oats, steel cut oats, and brown rice.
In addition to these jugs, I use some 1-gallon jugs in which seasonings came packaged (bought many years ago), some 1-gallon mayonnaise jars, and the 3-lb plastic tubs from Crisco-type shortening.
I am nowhere near done. I still need to find a container for the 50-lb sack of pinto beans that I bought earlier this month. I may have to play musical chairs with some of the staples in the larger jugs, pouring the steel cut oats (currently in a 35-lb jug) into a 1-gallon container, then filling the larger jug with the pinto beans.
Mouse-proofing the food is a great start. I am also using peppermint oil to deter entrance of these critters. According to folklore, the scent of peppermint may mask the pheromones that are left behind from previous mouse-entrance. I dabbed a couple of cotton balls with peppermint oil and placed these on the floor of the closet (former back-up pantry) where we found evidence of a mouse, as well as the floor of the kitchen pantry.
If we still find evidence of mice this winter, our next step will be to "borrow" some used kitty litter from a friend. It sounds extreme, but the scent of used kitty litter has been known to keep mice away.
Update: I moved the brown rice to a 1-gallon jug and filled the large 35-lb jug with pinto beans. About 35 pounds of dried beans fit into this large, institutional jug, leaving me with pintos to fill 2 1/2 one-gallon containers.
