Soap-eating mice

[dizzywriter]

We have mice in only one place in our house -- "my" bathroom upstairs. They come in through the hole that the pipes go through in the vanity and we've never seen evidence of them anywhere else -- perhaps because of our two house cats. But the mice eat the extra soap I store in the vanity.

Has anyone else had soap-eating mice? It seems so strange. What the heck can they get out of eating soap?

[Amwrider]

Good question, I have had rats in the tackroom that ate through a bottle of shampoo and showsheen so I am curious too.

[MistyBlue]

Some soaps and shampoos smell sweet. Or like food. Watch any soap or shampoo commericial...they're all so proud of using natural organic fruit and flower extracts. :lol: Those smalles attract rodents. And if you ever watch me after I've used my daughter's shampoo that smells like a pina colada...you can see me running around flailing in summer because the smell also attracts bees sometimes. :eek: :lol:
Or maybe they just think it's hilarious to scurry back home and fart bubbles all night? :winkgrin:
Stuff some steel wool/brillo around the pipe coming out of the wall. Mice prefer not to try chewing through that.
Or put a snap trap in there...baited with a bar of that new Dove cucumber soap. ;)

[dizzywriter]

Or maybe they just think it's hilarious to scurry back home and fart bubbles all night? :winkgrin:
Stuff some steel wool/brillo around the pipe coming out of the wall. Mice prefer not to try chewing through that.
Or put a snap trap in there...baited with a bar of that new Dove cucumber soap. ;)

So maybe they are majikal mice that like to fart scented bubbles?

None of my soaps smell like food. The bar they are gnawing on these days is an exfoliating soap that has sand in it for chrissakes.

But even if the soap smells food-like, wouldn't the taste turn them off from it? I still find it mystifying.

[MistyBlue]

I wouldn't think anything would llike the taste of soap. I've had to eat it once or twice in my youth for saying words I shouldn't have...IIRC it tastes pretty awful.

[RiverBendPol]

When I was little, we lived in an ancient house that had plenty of mice in the walls during the winter. The mice loved the soap. Didn't matter what kind it was, every morning all the bars of soap in the bathrooms had tiny teeth marks all around the edges. My mum stuffed all the holes around pipes and cracks with coarse steele or copper pot scrubby things-like Brillo only stronger. The food cupboards were lined with sheet metal!

[trubandloki]

My pet rats will nibble on the bar soap if I leave it on the counter while they are loose in the bathroom.

No idea why. But they seem to really like it.

[Mozart]

I have had barn mice nibble on glycerine saddle soap in my tack locker. That seemed pretty desperate to me. Fortunately they chewed on the soap instead of my tack so I was okay with the soap nibbling.

[WingedPanda]

I read this as "Soup-eating mice" and I was confused for way longer than I should have been. I think I need more coffee.

[Vesper Sparrow]

I've had a bar of soap be completely shredded by white-footed mice (or deer mice--I can never get them straight) at the cabin.

Never leaving out soap is part of my mouse-prevention program. Not that it works but it makes me feel more in control.

[kookicat]

Maybe they're after the tallow/fat/etc in it?

[Altamont Sport Horses]

Many soaps contain tallow (animal fat...yummy to mice and rats). Or they contain oils, also good energy source for rodents. Lastly if you have fancy soaps with oatmeal or botanicals that may also attract them for a little bathroom smorgasboard. :)

[tikihorse2]

Yeah, mice will eat pretty much anything to survive. My mom was furious when the mice ate her Yardley lavender soap (paper wrapping and all) that she'd put into the linen cabinet at our summer cabin. She thought it would keep the towels and sheets from getting musty smelling.

My dad and I, on the other hand, thought it was hilarious. :lol:

Kim

[redears]

I once had a full tube of Triple Antibiotic in my tack locker at the barn, and found it completely empty chewed on by mice. So, we had very infection-free mice.

[tikihorse2]

I once had a full tube of Triple Antibiotic in my tack locker at the barn, and found it completely empty chewed on by mice. So, we had very infection-free mice.

Not to mention their intestinal tracts got thoroughly cleaned out, between the petroleum jelly and the antibiotics! :lol:

Kim

[EponaRoan]

Perhaps they're taking it to punish their children for using bad words. Like cat. And trap. :lol:

[Guin]

I've had a bar of soap be completely shredded by white-footed mice (or deer mice--I can never get them straight) at the cabin.

.

I've always thought white-footed and deer mice are the same animal. They're SO cute!! We would get them in our house in Vermont in the winter - they would move inside when it got cold, and then would go back out in the spring. I loved them, but so did my ninja cat. :no: