Rats in the compost

[w33blegurl]

Morning all!

Bit of help needed. We have rats tunnelling into our compost bins to pinch veg scraps from the top. The bins are at the far end of the garden from the house and we have 3 cats so I'm not massively worried about some kind of invasion of them but I suppose I ought to do something to discourage them. We don't put any cooked stuff in the compost, it's all peelings and bits of fruit/veg and eggshells as well as the usual garden waste.

What's the best way to discourage them from the bins? Poison is not an option due to other animals (and small children) being about and I'm not sure I want to kill them anyway! Will just turning the heap regularly be enough? Are there any smells that might put them off (like citrus for cats etc).

Any advice gratefully received!
Ta muchly!
Julia

[Nicos]

We put down chilli powder near our hens. Not sure how much it works, but you need to buy catering sized!
And yes, turning the heap regularly will certainly put them off!

[Cadalot]

Compost bins are less likely to be attacked if away from fences and other structures as rats like to run beside buildings and any step or wall raised beds they don't like to be in the open and like to have something beside them, that's how you get rat runs, So if your bin is away from these things it's less likely to be attacked so compost bins are safer in the middle of an allotment than along the edges.

You can also put chicken wire folded on itself an number of times on the bottom. it allows the worms and insects in but makes it a little harder for the rats

[Mr Bones]

Best way I've found is to keep turning it. A long steel fence pin stabbed down all over the heap also flushes them out.

[cptncrackoff]

..also if you can keep the compost heap on the damp side (stick a watering can or two in if it seems dry) ..that helps, they prefer dry conditions.

[ESBkevin]

Turning is good. Look at bokashi composting which essentially makes the food rotted and less attractive another option is trench composting. Dig a trench and fill with fresh material, back fill a bit over the new green stuff, add brow cardboard for a mixture to all the green. Finally traps, discourge them else you will just get more.

[Jungle Jane]

Chicken wire so they can't get in sounds like a permanent solution & the rats would have to find somewhere else to go,far far away.

[goosander]

Make a tunnel with some bricks and put a heavy bit of slab on top. Set a fenn trap well up from the entrance out the way of little hands. And you will clear the lot out.
Bob

[Nicos]

Fen traps are ruthless to wildlife...there may well be new restrictions coming into effect in the next year or so.
Thing is they will squish anything which sets them off, be it a squirrel,hedgehog, stoat..And can easily smash adult fingers.

Just saying

[Nicos]

We have used live squirrel traps using bait.
Peanut butter, digestive biscuits or chocolate.

It catches the rat without harming it...you can then dispose of them ....watch out though, a trapped rat will try and bite you.

[noviceveggrower]

I had them at my last plot. I had some darlek bins that I lifted then put some chicken wire around the base curved out to slow them down a bit if they dug or chewed threw. I turned the compost on a regular basis to keep disturbing them and watered them on a regular basis. Also kicked the bins everytime I passed them.
At my new plot I have pallet compost bins. So I just turn the compost and water them out

[Jungle Jane]

This cat got caught in a trap,it's terrible what can happen & massive fines should be a detterant if injuring animals isn't.
Cat found cowering under a car with his paw caught in illegal metal trap (From Braintree and Witham Times)

* mod alert....beware that there is an unpleasant picture of this cat*

[Jimmy]

BBC article
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCAoBjfaEbE
Jimmy

[Scarlet]

It catches the rat without harming it...you can then dispose of them ....watch out though, a trapped rat will try and bite you.

We use live traps. Once OH caught a large one and while carrying it down the garden the rat got very aggressive and managed to escape through the a small gap in the opening...an opening smaller than a quarter of its size. With that in mind when using chicken wire and mesh to stop them coming into the bin from below you really need several layers to make the holes very small.

[Nicos]

Yep!
On average....They can get through a hole 1" in diameter, and a mouse through a hole small enough to stick a pencil into.
Obviously babies can get through smaller holes!