Will mice eat through a plastic food storage container? ?
I am going to store some food in food storage grade 6 gallon plastic buckets. The food in the buckets will be in totally sealed mylar bags. If I keep this food in the basement will the mice eventually smell the food and eat through the plastic buckets? The food i’m storing is oats, beans and rice.
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Comments
Not sure about mice but rats definitely will.
I have seen rodents chew through thick plastic buckets plenty of time to get to what’s stored inside. Whether it is a case of the odors of the contents seeps through or if it was just that after you handle the foods and then close them up in the bucket you are placing the oils–odors–taste on the outside of the bucket triggering the rodents to chew through, that I am not sure.
Yes. I used to keep COB mix for my horses in heavy plastic containers in my garage and the mice got into them.
You should first eliminate your mouse problem before storing foods that could potentially draw them. A feed store will have rodent cakes that contain warfarin which are very effective. The mice like the taste of the stuff, they carry it back to the nest and the whole family feasts and dies. Even after you have eradicated the mice, you should keep these cakes near your stored foods so the mice are tempted by the easy access to the cakes. Check them regularly and replace the ones that have disappeared. Make sure to keep them out of the reach of pets and children.
I have found that beans and rice will store well over time, but oats…not so well. If you open the oats and find a fine white spider-webby looking stuff on the top, you will need to discard them. But first…get rid of the mice.
Simlpe answer is YES !
I have about two years of food storage in our pantry. Much of it in food grade buckets, sealed in mylar food grade bags.
Mice are unlikely to chew their way in. Rats can chew their way in. Rats can even chew into a metal trashcan, given enough time.
If you have a rodent problem, take care of it. Decon poison, and/or snap traps work very, very well. If you use snap traps, bait them with peanut butter, so the rodent cannot steal the prize and not trip the trap.
My guess is, you are worried about economic times, and are storing food for the first time. This probably means you are going to store it, and forget about it, unless things are extremely bad.
This can be a really, really bad idea, if you are not use to cooking these foods completely from scratch.
If you are storing food, because you are worried about the economy, you would be much better off to store foods you are familiar with. If you have children, this is especially true. The elderly, and children will actually allow themselves to STARVE TO DEATH, before eating foods unfamiliar to them, ESPECIALLY IN STRESSFUL TIMES.
Most people don’t believe this, but it’s actually a proven fact, time and time again. Wars all around the world have proven this to be very, very true.
You also need to be SURE you store your food in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. Do NOT skip this step! The oxygen absorbers will kill any bugs that are on the food, and prevent their eggs from hatching.
Skip the absorbers, and you may open mylar bags of dust, weevils, and bug poop.
~Garnet
Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years
Managing our LARGE home pantry for years