Kill Mice With Salt: Pet-Safe Natural Rat and Mouse Poison

This post may contain affiliate links.

Natural Rat Mouse Poison Safe for Dogs Kill Mice With Salt

This simple recipe is for natural rat poison and mouse poison that’s safe for dogs and cats. You can kill mice with salt, rather than poison.

Rat Poison Safe For Dogs and Livestock

I keep chickens and goats and where you have livestock, you can get mice and rats. There were rats at our farm before we moved here and getting rid of them has been tough. I can’t use poison around the livestock since they may eat it, or the dead rodents. And traps only do so much so what can I do?

Luckily, I came across this natural rat and mouse poison recipe. And the good news is this rat poison is safe for dogs and cats, it works, and it involves zero chemicals!

Salt is the Secret Ingredient to Kill Mice

The secret to this natural rat and mouse poison may amaze you. I know it did me. It’s salt! Yep, plain old table salt. It works in the rodents’ lower intestines, dehydrating them from the inside. Animals like chickens and goats digest their food differently so this won’t affect them, except make them thirsty. And that has not been a concern. Besides salt, the recipe uses grains and peanut butter to entice the little critters to eat.

Natural Rat Mouse Poison Safe for Dogs Kill Mice With Salt

Kill Mice with Salt: Natural Rat and Mouse Poison Bars

This simple recipe is for natural rat poison and mouse poison that's safe for dogs and cats. You can kill mice with salt, rather than poison.

Prep Time
5 minutes
Active Time
10 minutes
Baking Time
30 minutes
Total Time
45 minutes
Servings
8 bars
Estimated Cost
$2

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sweet feed (or birdseed, or anything else that mice and rats enjoy eating)
  • 1/3 cup salt (you can use table salt or sea salt)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1 egg

Instructions

  1. Mix all the ingredients together. Peanut butter can vary from very stiff to loose and runny, so you may need more or less. Add just enough to get the dough to clump together.
  2. Next, pat the dough out on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. I make mine about 1/2 half-inch thick.
  3. Now, cut into bar shapes or whichever shape you prefer and bake at 350°f for 30 minutes or so, just enough to set the dough.
  4. Cool the natural rat poison bars and store them in a sealed container.

Recipe Video

Notes

Be sure to mark what the bucket contains. Many times I’ve put something in a bucket, thinking that I’d remember later what it was, only to find that my memory has failed me!

I used this to kill rats but you can also use them with mice. The bars are easy to make and store.

instagram
Made this recipe?

Mention @diynatural or tag it #diynatural!

How to Kill Mice With your Salt Poison

I take a few bars and place them in an old feed dish. Place the dish along a wall because mice and rats tend to run there for safety. I crumble them up a bit to make them easier to eat.

That’s all there is to it! You’ll need to replace the bars once in a while until you’ve eliminated most or all of the rodents. I have the best luck by using them for a few weeks, stopping for a while, then starting again.

The small amount of salt in this recipe may seem like it wouldn’t work as a natural rat poison. However, this 2% salt-to-grain ratio is the optimum ratio to kill mice with salt. This is just enough to kill the rodents without harming your livestock or wildlife. Also, you should not smell anything from the rodents that pass because the salt dehydrates them to the point at which no, or very little odor should be present.

Commercial Version

If you don’t want to make your own you can purchase MouseX and/or RatX. These commercial products are very similar to our recipe; they also use salt as the poison.

Alternative No-Kill Solution

Some people won’t kill mice or rats with salt even if they do cause problems with the animals or feed. For them, I’ve included this alternative solution.

If you don’t want to use natural rat poison, you can use this trap approach.

Equipment

  • 5-gallon bucket
  • a metal rod like a shower curtain rod
  • a drill,
  • a drill bit large enough to make a hole the size of the metal rod and peanut butter.

Instructions

  1. If you don’t want to kill the mice or rats with salt, make two holes opposite each other at the top of the bucket.
  2. Thread your rod through, making sure that it can spin freely.
  3. Apply a generous amount of peanut butter to the center of the rod. I leave a few swipes of peanut butter on the edge and even on the outside of the bucket. This will help draw them in.
  4. Place the bucket where mice and rats can climb on top of the bucket. When they try to get to the peanut butter in the center of the rod, it will spin, dumping the rodent into the bucket.

Notes

The next day, take the bucket (I cover mine in case some try to jump out) to a field far away and let them go. I’ve done this numerous times and have had success with it. I never let them go where they can get into someone else’s home or barn, but rather a few miles away from people.

You can also purchase a commercial version of this trap.

Rodents are easy to control if you have this natural rat and mouse poison. And this rat poison is safe for dogs, cats, and livestock! Kill mice with salt, not dangerous poison.

*******

Avatar photo

About Debra Maslowski

Debra is a master gardener, a certified herbalist, a natural living instructor, and more. She taught Matt and Betsy how to make soap so they decided to bring her on as a staff writer! Debra recently started an organic herb farm in the mountains of Western North Carolina. You can even purchase her handmade products on Amazon!

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for us to support our website activities, we may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for our endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this website.

DISCLAIMER: Information on DIY Natural™ is not reviewed or endorsed by the FDA and is NOT intended to be substituted for the advice of your health care professional. If you rely solely upon this advice you do so at your own risk. Read full Disclaimer & Disclosure statements here.

Comments

  1. Avatar photoDiane N says

    Well, I just had a laugh. I read your article about natural rat and mouse poison and I was about to ask a question when I read the first two comments from Sharon, about moles, and Suzanne about striped gophers. Those two ladies must live next door to me because I have that exact problem with moles and striped gophers. This year has been especially bad. I live on an acreage and when the farmers around me go into their fields the critters start to move into my property. I don’t want to set traps because I had a very sad experience before. So, do you think that this natural poison would be a good solution for my issue? I love your articles, I learn a lot from both of you. Great website.

    • Avatar photoDebra Maslowski says

      Hi Diane! Are you in Minnesota? We had moles and striped gophers there and had a lot of problems. Here in NC, just moles. It could work, depending on what the food source is. You can try apples or crickets, depending on who you are aiming for, as described below. I’d give it a try even if it just chases them away.

  2. Avatar photoSharon says

    Thank you! My problem is moles!! They are SO hard to get rid of! Could this work for them?

    • Avatar photoDebra Maslowski says

      Hi Sharon! As with Suzanne’s question, the metabolism in moles is different than mice and rats, but it may be similar enough to work. Moles eat meat though, so seeds and grain may not attract them. For this, I’d try mealworms or crickets. You can get them freeze dried if you don’t want to handle live ones.

  3. Avatar photoSuzanne says

    Thank you for the information about a natural salt rodent “solution”. Do you think it will work on striped gophers?

    • Avatar photoDebra Maslowski says

      Hi Suzanne! It could possibly, depending on what they are eating in your yard. Find the food source, be it your tomatoes or apples or whatever, and mix some of that into the recipe. Once you attract them, hunger will take over. That being said, gophers have a different metabolism, so it may just make them sick instead of killing them. But..if that deters them, all the better.