Learn From The Pros

During cold months many mice choose to live in the warmth of human homes and gain entry through small openings. As omnivores, they consume commonly stored food items such as grains, sweet treats, animal food supplies, and boxed products. The pests eat daily portions that range from 10% to 15% of their body weight and store excess food inside their nests. They use their strong appetite and clever ways to become bothersome intruders who rapidly transform your pantry into their feeding station.

What Are Mice Eating in My Pantry?

Since the beginning of time, mice have made their way into homes looking to steal food from humans. These creatures will consume just about anything, but they do enjoy certain things more than others. So, what’s in your New Jersey home that’s so enticing to these furry pests, and what are mice eating in your pantry?

Mice Prefer Their Natural Habitat

Wild mice prefer to be camouflaged by heavy brush areas so they can’t be detected by their predators. Since many wild animals hunt mice for food, mice must build hidden nests to avoid detection. The color variation in mice enables them to remain hidden within their habitat, which enhances their survival rate.

Most mice are only 3 to 4 inches long. Being as small as they are, mice build nests for protection from larger animals and shelter from the elements. Several families of mice can often be seen sharing one large nest together to provide this safety.

Like most rodents, mice burrow underground to build nests. Dense brush, hay, or leaf piles can also make for a great nest to provide the comfort they need. They are efficient housekeepers and create separate chambers for food storage.

Mice do not like cold weather and will use their nest making abilities to be sure the nest stays warm. They construct their home by layering leaves, grass, bark and small pieces of fabric that they discover. Mice spend their daytime hours nestled within their warm nest before venturing out at night to find food. One of these small animals probably squeezed through that door crack you’ve been meaning to fix in order to get inside your home. When morning comes, you may notice a disturbance in the kitchen along with their tiny tracks and wonder, “What are mice eating in my pantry?”

There’s a Mouse in the House

Mice are omnivores, which means they eat both meat and plants in their diet. In the forest, mice eat on different types of plants, berries, and seeds. Every so often they will also have a juicy worm or insect and if food is really scarce, they will turn to eating each other.

Mice can be very resourceful in taking advantage of storing food during spring, summer, and fall when it is nice and warm. They will store up on nuts and seeds in their nests for the cold winter months.

However, various species of mice prefer a warmer home to spend their winter. So, they find a tiny crack or crevice and invade your home. Once they’ve settled into a secluded spot, they turn your cabinets and pantry into a buffet.

What’s on the Mouse Menu in Your House?

Mice are not known to be polite when they become unwelcome guests in your home. Nest building and food finding come easy with the never ending supply and they will be sure to fatten up on all the treats available in your kitchen. These miniature mooches will chow down on any tasty morsel they see.

Mice that have moved into a human dwelling suddenly develop a voracious appetite for carbohydrates and sweets. These tiny pests crave sugar like children in a candy store. As you question “What are mice eating in my pantry?”, there are some popular items that stay on their radar:

Grain flours
Sugars
Chocolate
Peanut Butter

Candy
Bread
Crackers
Packaged food

Chips
Cereal
Snack cakes or other packaged desserts
Honey, syrup, or molasses

Pet food
Fruit and berries
Nuts and seeds
Shortening and lard

This isn’t an exhaustive list of the tasty vittles that lure mice into your pantry. They typically consume about ten to 15 percent of their body weight in food. Once they’ve established a treasure trove of goodies, they will start carrying small pieces to store in their nest.

The All-Night Rodent Party You Weren’t Invited To

One of the reasons you probably won’t see a mouse during the day is that they roam at night. In the wild, darkness means fewer predators and less competition for food. If they have infested your home, they’ll use the late night hours when all is quiet to party in your pantry.

Mice are pretty nimble on their feet, and they can run up to eight miles per hour. That might seem laughable until you consider it’s the equivalent of a human being running 160 miles per hour. Since they must rely on their agility for survival, they are also excellent jumpers and climbers.

No Time for a Bathroom Break

While these rodents are raiding your food supply, they usually eliminate waste simultaneously. Finding fecal matter is the classic tell-tale sign that you have a mouse problem. Each mouse can leave from 60 to 75 tiny black droppings per a 24-hour period. Since they defecate on the run, they leave a putrid trail of droppings on your floors, counters, tables, and the food they’re stealing.

If that isn’t enough to turn your stomach, consider that mice also urinate constantly. At least you can see the wandering trails of feces they leave behind. What you don’t see is their dried puddles and streams of urine. which can sink into carpets and upholstery, causing a sickening stench of ammonia. “As you’re wondering What are mice eating in my pantry?” you should also be thinking about what they are leaving behind.

Other Collateral Damage Mice Cause

When these repulsive rodents reside in your place, they do more than just rob your pantry. Their tiny teeth are razor-sharp allowing them to be able to chew through all kinds of things. Mice will chew through paper and plastic to get to food, but they will also chew through wood, electrical wires, and drywall to build their nest.

Their nest-building habit destroys ceilings, walls, and floors, and being able to chew through electrical wires creates a fire hazard. If the opportunity presents itself, mice will also chew and vandalize furniture, clothing, and books.

Health Hazards of Mice Infestations

Mice seem like cute little creatures when presented as cartoon characters, but its easy to forget how nasty and dangerous they can be in reality. It’s easy to be oblivious to their destruction when you see them in storybooks or visit the iconic theme parks centered around an adorable mouse.

These furry and long-tailed creatures carry diseases that can be life-threatening to pets and people. The bubonic plague made history in the 14th century of Europe when mice became infected from flea bites. The illness soon spread like a wildfire, killing anywhere between 30 and 65 percent of Europe’s population at that time.

Considering that mice spend their time roaming through your pantry, it’s important to be aware that their habits also leave them open to picking up other diseases. Rabies, Tularemia, Salmonella, Leptospirosis, and Hantavirus are just a hand full of nasty diseases mice can spread. Let’s not forget their little bodies are great hosts for fleas, ticks, and mites.

How To Keep Mice Out of Your Pantry

People ask all the time, “What are mice eating in my pantry?” and the simple answer is they are eating it all. Keeping them out and away from your home with simple preventative measures will help keep your home and family safe. Check out these tips to keep mice out of your pantry:

Look for Points of Entry

Look around your property for holes and cracks in the foundation. Mice can squeeze through a hole the size of a pencil so even the smallest holes need to be sealed. Seal these imperfections with caulking or repair larger cracks and holes with concrete.

Fix Screen and Window Seals

Mice are agile climbers, so repair or replace any torn or broken screens in your windows and doors. If you buy food in bulk, inspect baskets or boxes thoroughly for signs of stowaway mice.

Inspect Your Pantry

Inspect your pantry regularly and look for any signs of mice feasting, such as feces, spilled food, or holes in bags and boxes. Throw out any potentially contaminated food and clean your pantry regularly.

Reduce Food Messes

By cleaning up spills and food crumbs, you will decrease the likelihood of mice being drawn indoors by the scent. Do not leave food out overnight. Keep trash cans sealed and emptied as soon as they are full.

Be Wary of Box and Bag Collections

Mice adore cardboard as a nest liner, so boxed food does not detour them. Instead of keeping food in boxes and bags, consider sealing them in glass containers. You can easily see the contents, and the rodents can’t get to them.

Check and Seal Around Pipes

Seal drippy pipes under the sink and caulk around your bathtub and toilet. Also, seal any crawl spaces that might make a lovely home for a mouse.

If you see one mouse, there are countless more you aren’t seeing. Be on alert and notice signs of droppings, food that’s been tampered with, and hollow sounds in the walls of your home. When mice are overwhelmingly present, you will be able to hear scratching and squeaking sounds within your walls.

So…What Are Mice Are Eating in Your Pantry? Everything!

Stop wondering, “What are mice eating in my pantry?” and call our Kapture experts to come solve the issue. New Jersey has many species of mice running around and the smallest precautions can minimize your chances of an infestation. Contact Kapture Pest Control as soon as you notice the signs of mice. Stop mice before they start!