Rats in the compost bin - eek! MERGED

Penelope_Penguin

Artytarty wrote: »

Anyhow, the thing is, I am now having nightmares about...rats!

Has this been a problem for other composters?
My Mum got mice nesting in hers which is creepy but not soooo bad!
Arty.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

There's an existing thread on this on the GF board - I'll add this thread to that later, to give you more ideas The thread link's there ^^^^^^^^ Thanks, Pink :kisses3:

Penny. x

nodwah

I've never had mice or rats in my compost ( I've had a compost bin for more years than I can remember- how did i get so old!!)

One top tip I'd say is to make sure your compost is nice and wet - the rats won't like the dampness - if it's too dry it won't compost down well anyway

Another thing is to turn the contents regularly with a garden fork - every 2-3 months they won't like the disturbance and it also helps the compost break down.

Artytarty

Oh heck, its built now, and we havent put heavy duty mesh anywhere! I dont like the council black plastic type ones, not big enough anyway.
I found a site showing how to make one cheaply, using old wooden pallets, seems good composting requires air circulation to work well. We had just taken down some old trellis panels so we built a double bunker style one using that. When i said I was having nightmares about rats I wasnt speaking metaphorically! I really am having scary dreams!
Arty.

Farway

Sorry to add to your worries, but I never had rats for years in my dalek either, until about a month back, attracted I suspect by next door putting loads of bird seed out daily

I only put uncooked veg etc in there, but made no difference, they have moved in, and now digging in my spud bucket in the greenhouse

Poison is down, but hidden under tiles, the greenhouse poison I only put down this morning, and already it is getting eaten

My compost is wet [I bash on the dalek side before I look in] so seems to make no difference, at least the bu66ers are turning it over for me

I will give them a bit longer, then off to B & Q for wire mesh, then tuck the trousers into my socks, on wellies and knock the dalek over, with handy rat spearing fork in hand, one sunny day to remove old compost and add mesh to base

Lorian

We've had rats in ours. You definitely want wire mesh on the bottom, small holes too.

Artytarty

oh I feel sick...

Ste_C

I've used a compost bin for 3 years and never had any problems. I have no wire mesh and no need to bash the side of the bin so they aren't attracted to all bins.

But, I'm afraid rats are a fact of life in the British garden though. Even if you don't see them, they do visit your garden, but they don't always stay...

angelavdavis

I had kept compost heaps for over 12 years without any problems.

Then two years ago, I made the mistake of purchasing a green cone from the council to compost cooked kitchen leftovers. Installed it according to the instructions. It was supposed to be vermin proof construction.

Well, the vermin, obviously keen to prove this fact wrong, burrowed down the side of the green bin underground and then chewed through the vermin proof construction underground to set up nest.

The first I knew was when I opened the lid one day to add to the heap and saw it crawling alive! :eek:

Unfortunately, not before they had set up a network of underground tunnels from the green cone, to two of the compost bins.

A good dose of poison got rid of them that year. I had to turn over the soil to collapse all their tunnels too. Having disposed of the green cone, and put strong wire mesh under each bin, I am not taking any more chances.

We now have chickens, whose run also sits on top of strong wire mesh to stop vermin. They eat all the cooked leftovers, they are much more fun than the green cone, provide some accelerator for the compost heap and I get eggs as part of the bargain!

kiwifruit_2

i have two out the back...am now wanting to just kind of accidently topple them down the bank into the river lol

SKIPPY54

Hi,Put fine mesh wire under the composter,don't let the compost become to dry,get the men of the house to pee in a bucket and pour it on, it may-not sound very nice but it helps keep everything moist and also helps composting.Yes bang the sides of the bin then you will not scare each other when you take the lid off.I have seen rats in the garden but never in my compost.Dont give up composting keep it out of land fill.