Mice in the compost bin.

[middlefield]

I've got a couple of dalek style compost bins down at the lottie, on inspection yesterday I glanced inside the one with the oldest bin and noticed that it was about 3/4 full of a nice dark loamy compost. I didn't really pay too much attention but later on (when went to show 6 year old daughter the lovely fat worms inside) I quickly lifted the lid the see the rear-end of a mouse diving down a hole inside.

On closer inspection I noticed all the little mouse-holes (typical man that i am not to see them first time) and also the entrance/exit the mouse/mice had dug to tunnell in.

The compost is going in my runner bean trench (thats not dug yet) so won't be touched for at least a month, do I:

1. Do nothing - leave them there until ready to go, then deal with it
2. Remove the bin, sort the compost and place it elsewhere ready to use later
3. Bait traps near the entrance/exit
4. Something else

Your kind words of advice would be appreciated.

i've no real objection to them being there, we're in a semi-rural environment so i would be naive to think they weren't there anyway, at the same time I've no objection to removing them. Really, I don't want the critters re-producing so that I'm over-run.

[lainey lou]

I wouldn't stress about it, Mix your compost regularly and keep it dampish, that shoud disturb them and make them uncomfortable, hopefully they'll move on. BTW your compost sounds great!

[Madasafish]

If you are semi rural your chances of reducing the mouse population are virtually nil. We back ontop fields and then woods so we always have mice everywhere... they invade the house in autumn, the greenhouse, the compost etc.

We only trap the house ones... the rest survive to eat our strawberries:-(

[middlefield]

If you are semi rural your chances of reducing the mouse population are virtually nil. We back ontop fields and then woods so we always have mice everywhere... they invade the house in autumn, the greenhouse, the compost etc.

We only trap the house ones... the rest survive to eat our strawberries:-(

The little critters ate my peas as quickly as I could sow them last year, resulting in a very low pea-yield

I've no objections to them being there, as long as they aren't affecting my compost or posing a health risk by doing their toilet in there. I use gloves to move the compost so I guess its no big deal and they will scarper as soon as I start to move it.

[bluemoon]

We always put fine gauge chicken wire underneath ours. It keeps the rodents out (they gain access by tunnelling underneath), but it still lets the fluids produced by the rotting veg run away and the worms in. You can buy a sort of stand thing for your bins that will collect the fluids which can then be used as a plant feed, but obviously this will prevent worm access so the whole process may take longer. We put our rabbit's poo in the compost bin - it's a great activator - so I suppose mouse droppings will be the same. Also their tunnelling activities may mean they're helping to mix the compost for you. I suppose it depends on how you feel about it all - personally I'm not a very rodent friendly person!

[Two_Sheds]

I had the same thing last summer. Water your dalek well, and the mice will move on - they don't like a soggy bed.
Damp compost rots down quicker too.

[TPeers]

You beat me to it Two Sheds!

The one thing you really don't want Middlefield, is to be digging out the compost and to come across a mouse nest.... or worse......half a mouse nest.....

For a good week or so running up to when you want to use the compost water it and keep it wet - the mice will move out. I know that will mean moving soggy compost - but better than diced mouse!

[Pumpkin Becki]

[QUOTE=middlefield;168802]The little critters ate my peas as quickly as I could sow them last year, resulting in a very low pea-yield.QUOTE]

Hmm, last year my hubby went to harvest the carrots, grabbed hold of a load of the leaves and pulled...and was dissapointed to find our allotment mice had eaten through the tops of all our carrot crop. In his hand were the 'carrot tops' , in the ground were the body of the carrots. But it was perfect, like a beaver knawing a log, and the tops had still been standing proudly upright, no wilting or falling over. It was very funny for the first handfull, after the tenth we were a bit cross!!