Do Wild Mice Eat Bush Bean Plants?

Mice eat plant seeds, roots and produce.

Wild mice will eat many of the foods that humans eat. Field mice, deer mice, white-footed mice, and voles, also known as meadow mice, will invade, burrow into, and feed in a garden. Wild mice will eat bush bean plants.

In the Garden

Several types of mice will eat many of the vegetables and fruit grown in the home garden. Mice can cause a great deal of damage to the plants and produce.

Bush Beans

Mice will dig into the soil and retrieve the bean seeds that have been planted in the springtime. Mice will also chew on the emerging bean pods that they can reach on the plant.

Significance

Mice make burrows in the ground, through hay, and in leafy mulch. They also live in areas of thick vegetation, including weeds. Mice are avid climbers that can scale the stems of bush bean plants when foraging in the garden at night.

Prevention/Solution

Cover newly seeded bush bean rows with 1/4-inch mesh embedded several inches into the soil. If mice have been present, keep the area well weeded and tilled. Protect bush bean plants with stakes or trellises that keep the maturing vegetables from touching the ground. A pet cat or barn cat will help in preventing a mice infestation in your home garden.

References

• U.S. Department of Energy; Field Mice Food; March 13, 2004
• University of Connecticut; Identification and Control of Mice and Voles; Norman Gauthier

Resources

• Washington State University; Rats and Mice; Cathi Hovanic, et al.