We have mice...and a resident feline rodent control system. They've not bothered with heavy plastic containers...only plastic bagged items. I think if your outside of the food grade bucket is scrupulously clean you significantly reduce the chances of them chewing on the them.
I use plastic rubbermaid tubs to store things like pasta bags in, and never a chew through.

I 've seen a rat chew into can of food, nasty little beggars.

TRY THESE...

AND LOTS OF 'EM

Lol thanks. The whole mouse thing at the last house was due to a fire so maybe it was not something that would mice would normally eat through unless they were starving. I know one woman that lived closer to the fire then me had bigger problems with them. She said she saw a mouse try to grab a cookie out of her little boys hand while he was sitting on the floor.

Just thinking if SHTF then garbage, mice and rats may be a large problem.

Lol thanks. The whole mouse thing at the last house was due to a fire so maybe it was not something that would mice would normally eat through unless they were starving. I know one woman that lived closer to the fire then me had bigger problems with them. She said she saw a mouse try to grab a cookie out of her little boys hand while he was sitting on the floor.

Just thinking if SHTF then garbage, mice and rats may be a large problem.

Absolutely, when SHTF, garbage and sanitation could be an issue. Incinerate or bury any garbage or other "waste materials" and keep the surroundings clean...
if you've ever been camping, just do what you would to keep the racoons, bears, etc. at bay.

It's my neighbors lack of waste management that would be the problem. I already have problems with their garbage now. 🙁

I've had mice give it a good try to chew through my Peanut Butter containers. I've learned to live with them and also use Denob's Device a.k.a. mouse traps, under the sink or in cupboards away from the cat. That's after I go around the house plugging up any little tiny holes with steel wool before caulking/spray foaming. Those little creatures don't touch my stored potatoes, onions, squash in my coldroom during the winter ...??? - I think they like it in the warm house better.

Terriers are really good with rodents - everyone around here had a problem with mice during the last long dry spell (except me) my little man (Jack Russell X terrier) got heaps of them outside and we never even saw evidence of any inside due to having two cats (always kept inside). Using heavy duty food grade pails, glass jars and keeping everything clean is what I do - re garbage disposal: burn it as Denob said. Not much gets collected by our waste collection service (we wouldn't even fill our waste bin in a month but the local service comes weekly)

Contrary to popular belief, the traps are reusable. Simply dispose of the catch, reload if required and set out again. Also, PB seems to work better than cheese!
Steel wool in any cracks works wonders...check especially where plumbing pipes enter from walls or floors. Mice can fit through the smallest holes...I've also heard that peppermint oil works well as a deterrent.

I used pennyroyal, this plug in thing that was to keep mice out(it seemed to work) and humane traps. The ones that the mice have to put their head into to trigger. I don't like the "regular" spring ones as there is a risk of just getting the leg and the poor thing suffers.

Thanks all. I guess the best method is to keep them out in the first place. 🙂

learnt this trick from the mag 'Mother Earth' . When the fields got harvested we were inundated with the little creatures. The mag said to put down a small bowl pop. With in a week, no more mice. They love the sweetness. Like us after a large turkey dinner we get tired, so do they after drinking the pop. They go back to were ever, go to sleep and don't wake up.

@ Denob: Peanut Butter AND one sunflower seed jammed into the bait 'hook' works for me. The little 'rascals' around here have licked off the Peanut butter on the trap without springing it!! I always re-use mouse traps. Any mouse who makes it into MY house is fair game to be trapped DEAD.

@ Denob: Peanut Butter AND one sunflower seed jammed into the bait 'hook' works for me. The little 'rascals' around here have licked off the Peanut butter on the trap without springing it!! I always re-use mouse traps. Any mouse who makes it into MY house is fair game to be trapped DEAD.

i do the same.
little buggers love my attic in the winter.
only difference is no sunflower seed, i put a piece of scotch tape around the trigger and body of trap...they have to work harder to get peanut butter.

This past winter was the first time since we moved here that it was the winter of the mice, we battled them for a good three months, (shame on my barn cats and my house cats!) we use traps as well, I second it, we use a big pumpkin seed in the peanut butter and it seemed to do the trick very well. Hubby found caulking at the feed store that has steel wool fibers in it, which is awesome for blocking the little spaces, but steel wool itself is much cheaper and I still think works better personally.