Ever since you were little, you’ve been told that mice like cheese. Whether it was from watching cartoons like Tom and Jerry, or watching your parents setting up mouse traps with a big slice of cheddar on them.
But did you know, mice don’t actually like cheese that much at all? In fact, sometimes they dislike it entirely!
So what do mice eat?
Mice really aren’t fussy when it comes to food, so they will gorge themselves on pretty much anything you put in front of them. But, they definitely have their favourite snacks they like to feast upon, such as:
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Grains and seeds
- Insects
- Proteins
They are also very fond on other foods, such as peanut butter, because they have a major sweet tooth! Using peanut butter as mouse bait is going to be way more effective than using a piece of cheese.
But why don’t mice like cheese?
So if mice will eat anything in sight, why won’t they eat a lovely slice of Gouda?
It’s not that mice don’t like cheese, it’s more that there are other food which they’d prefer to eat given the choice. Mice have different tastes, just like us, so the flavour of their food will affect whether a mouse eats it or not.
They will even just lick a food before they eat it, to check that they like the taste (don’t try this at home!).
The reason a mouse may not have cheese from a mouse trap is probably because of the smell. They have a super sensitive sense of smell, which helps them determine whether food is safe to eat or not. Some cheese is super-duper smelly, which is enough to put a mouse off its supper.
But if the mouse is absolutely staving, it will be more likely to nibble on some cheese. If it’s the only food source available to them, they’ll take it, but it won’t be tempting enough to lure them onto a mouse trap.
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