peas in a gutter

Last year I tried sowing peas in a length of gutter in a cold frame and came back to a line of perfect holes - it almost made me laugh. I then planted direct and discovered the same thing happening. After deciding that this was war I replanted direct and sprayed the ground with a dilute solution of "Dave's insanity sauce" - an extra hot chilli sauce I got from Asda. The mice left the peas alone after that. I have been told that it probably just masked the smell but I hope they suffered what I suffered when I first tried to eat the stuff!