The smell of peppermint oil is supposed to repel mice. Last fall I bought a bottle of it and left it open in the dining room with some bamboo skewers sticking out of it, the idea being that the oil would be drawn into the wood so the aroma would diffuse into the air.

I'm not so sure whether there was diffusion or just evaporation, but for the first time in years there are no mouse droppings in my dresser drawers where the table linens are stored, right next to where the bottle sat all winter. Mind you, I had put the contents of the drawers in plastic bags, but I doubt the plastic repelled the mice. I think they would have gone in the drawers to check things out and left a calling card, so I'm thinking the peppermint oil kept them away.

I had previously tried tucking strong peppermint Lifesavors in the drawers, and that didn't work because the mice stole the candies. No, apparently the peppermint oil is the secret. My hope was that the mere presence of that open bottle would also protect my kitchen, but it didn't. Mr. Mouse got up on the counter, ran across the top of the stove, and chewed on a wooden spoon. I don't know where else he went, so I wiped everything down with bleach water. Yesterday I lined the drawer at the bottom of the stove with cardboard and smeared some of the peppermint oil on it. We'll just see how that works.

If you don't want to do the diffuser method, you can soak cotton balls in peppermint oil and put them around your house where you think mice are a problem. Yes, it smells very minty, and the oil needs to be replenished when the odor stops emanating.

Now, keep in mind that I didn't rely solely on the peppermint oil. At the same time I purchased it, I bought some electric things that are supposed to use the wiring of the house to discourage rodents and spiders from living in the walls. What I don't know is if it just flushes them out of the walls into the living space, but there are fewer spiders and spider webs in the house than usual. Time will only tell whether it has made a difference in the mouse population.