- Is mint really the secret to keeping raccoons out of your garbage?
- Walmart Canada thinks so, announcing Thursday that its stores will start carrying mint-scented garbage bags designed to keep those pesky, garbage-loving rodents at bay.
- So, how effective are they? The retailer cited a 2011 study by the University of Maryland, in which two bags – one Mint-X bag and one standard, untreated bag — were filled with regular food items and placed in a test area for a week. The Mint-X bags were left undisturbed, but rodents successfully made their way into the regular ones 67% of the time.
Read more here.
[A little-known tale from my life: When I was a kid we found a baby raccoon at a state park in PA; the mother had been killed by a car. We took him home (with the Park Ranger's permission), named him "Lucky," and raised him. It was an amazing experience. Within about 6 months, though, he became a bit too "active" for the house. We found a new home for him at a nature preserve, where he lived out his days as an ice-cream-cone-eating star attraction. Lucky indeed.]
