"Kitchens, even very clean ones, smell like food, and this is a neon welcome sign to a rodent's nose. These creatures don't rely on their eyesight the way humans do. Smell is their dominant sense, and they use it to follow scent signals that mark a rat-safe route or a promising meal. A mouse has over 1,000 odor receptors (whereas people have a measly 350) finely tuned to trace the semiotics of a kitchen, like starches, fats, and other rodents' chemical signatures."
"Used correctly against rodents, peppermint oil overpowers both the pheromone trails of their vermin brethren and the subtle scent of anything edible that draws rodents into a kitchen in the first place. Just know that it won't solve an existing infestation on its own - if mice have already set up house behind a wall or inside a cabinet, they're not going to pack up just because you introduced peppermint."
"If a rat is scouting your kitchen as a late-night diner and encounters peppermint oil, he's going to write a bad Yelp review and never return. Peppermint is putrid to pests Elena Titova/Getty Images The peppermint oil we're talking about isn't the same as the mint flavoring you might use to make peppermint bark, ice cream, or other refreshing mint recipes. It's the essential oil you'll find in the wellness section of a health food store."
Kitchens emit food odors that attract rodents because smell is their primary sense and mice have over 1,000 odor receptors. Peppermint essential oil's menthol scrambles olfactory cues and can mask pheromone trails and food scents, making treated areas inhospitable to mice, rats, ants, and cockroaches. Peppermint works best as a preventive barrier and will not eradicate rodents already nesting inside walls or cabinets. Any food-safe peppermint essential oil or premade peppermint-based product can be used for deterrence. Peppermint essential oil differs from culinary mint flavoring and should be obtained from the wellness or health-food section.
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