You could say that mice love food just as much as us humans do.
And while mice are not super picky eaters, there are certain foods that mice love and will gravitate towards more so than others.
Whether you’re wondering what food to use as bait for your mouse traps or just wondering what foods in your kitchen are attracting mice, follow along this article to learn everything you need to know about the foods that attract mice.
Mice are omnivores, but they do prefer to eat grains, seeds, and fruits, and basically any foods high in carbohydrates. However, they will take whatever they can get their little hands on and can actually live on as little as an ounce of food and water a day.
But, if mice had it their way in our kitchens like the Pixar movie Ratatouille, the 8 foods listed below would be at the top of their list for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every snack in between.
Contents
Fruits and berries
Fruits and berries attract mice because they are high in carbohydrates and sugars, which mice go crazy for. Therefore, think twice about leaving your fruits and berries out in your countertop fruit bowl.
Also, be aware of the fruits and berries that are growing around your home because deer mice will snatch them right up—they especially like raspberries and blackberries.
Even if you don’t have a garden, make an effort to know what kinds of trees and bushes you have growing around your home because fruits trees, berry bushes, and even rotted fruits and berries that have found the ground will attract mice. If you notice any rotted fruit in your yard or close to your home, throw it out right away.
Meats
Meat is not as appealing to mice as some of the other items on this list, but nonetheless, because they are omnivores, they will still eat all types of it (rats tend to like meat more than mice). Furthermore, some species of mice like to the eat meat more than others.
If you want to be extra careful and make sure that none of your meats or leftovers are attracting mice, make sure to always throw out any meat scraps, fats, and bones in a plastic bag. Because the smell of meat can attract mice, you might also want to store meats and scraps in airtight containers and dispose of them often.
Also, mice don’t hunt for meat. So, any meat that they consume is already ready to be eaten.
Pet food
Mice will eat ALL types of pet food, not just dog food or cat food. As a general rule of thumb, any food that your pet likes, mice will like, too—this includes dog food, cat food, fish food, bird food, hamster food to name a few. This is because mice are opportunists and must eat whatever they can get their hands on.
If you have pets, make sure you don’t leave pet food out in the open for hours on end. Keep all pet food in airtight containers and if you use pet bowls, clean them as soon as your pets are done eating. Also, avoid you might not want to feed your pets in the garage; the smell of the food will attract mice to it and could eventually pull them into your home, too.
Nuts
You might not think nuts would be too appealing to mice, but in fact, all rodents go crazy for nuts. Because nuts are insanely nutritious and high in protein and carbohydrates, only just a few of them are enough to satisfy mice.
While mice will go for all kinds of nuts, they especially like nut butters, such as peanut butter and almond butter. Peanut butter in particular happens to also be one of the best baits to use on a mouse trap.
Sweets and salty snacks
Sweets and salty snacks are a mouse’s Achilles heel. They are attracted to the high sugar, salt, protein, and carbohydrate content in these foods and will go to great lengths to eat them. The list of these foods is forever long, but foods like peanut butter, milk chocolate, gum drops, jerkies, and other candies are some of there favorites.
Unfortunately, most of use keep some sweets and salty snacks in our homes in one way or another. But, all you have to do is properly store them. Keep your snacks in airtight bags, jars, or containers, and keep them stored out of sight in the fridge, freezer, or tightly sealed cabinets. Also, when you throw out any wrapper or unfinished snack, first put them in a sealed bag to help keep mice from getting into your trashcan.
Grains and seeds
Mice will go after grains and seeds stored in your kitchen or attached to plants in your garden and around your home. This is why farms and agricultural lands tend to have lots of mice, for they are attracted to grain storage bins and fields right before harvest time.
Also, in addition to properly storing your grains and seeds in your kitchen, watch out for bird seed. Homes on suburban areas with bird seed around the home will also attract mice, so be wary of that.
Plants
Yes, mice will eat plants, too. What won’t they eat? There really isn’t much…
A mouse has been known to get into lettuces in the kitchen and grasses, weeds, small twigs, and barks outside the home.
Garbage and scraps
Lastly, when they run out of options, mice will still jump right into your garbage or scavenge your kitchen floor for crumbs and leftover scraps. So basically, mice will eat whatever they can.
What foods attract mice to traps?
While all of the 8 types of foods mentioned above attract mice, not all of them make for great mouse trap bait. This is because mice will always go more crazy for some foods than others.
The best bait for a trap is a food that is high in sugars and fasts. In particular, baits that have stood the test of time are peanut butter, milk chocolate, and milk chocolate covered peanut butter. The ultimate, classic mouse traps that always seems to do the job are the peanut butter snap traps—if you need to quickly get rid of some mice, I really suggest to give this trap a try.
