rat prevention!

[w33blegurl]

Morning!

Having finally rid our compost bins of rats I'm looking to prevent them getting in again (as much as is possible!). Pest control said that wire under the bins is the best way but need something stronger than chicken wire as they can chew through that. A search on google has revealed an eye-watering array of wire panels for equally eye watering prices (it has to go under 3 modular wooden bins, about 70x70cm each). I was just wondering what others have used and if there are any recommendations for places to buy?

Thanks!

[Cadalot]

Bear in mind that if they can't under they will chew their way if they can find an edge see Alans Allotment: Bed 6, Committee Meeting, Rats & Blue Water Pipe on those two bins they could have easily got under but still decided to chew a hole.

As you say wire mesh of a size that will hold them is very expensive, I will also be interested if someone has a cheap source

More advice on Rats and Compost bins can be found at https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/how...-your-compost/

[Nicos]

What sort of compost bins do you have?....might they chew their way in through the sides/top?

[Nicos]

Just been rereading your other thread...wooden.

Well, our rats have managed to dig up through a concrete floor, eat their way into thick plastic storage bins........I would say if they want to get in, they'll find a way.
They won't want to stay if regularly disturbed though....

[Guest]

How have you got rid of the rats? if they haven't been killed they will go somewhere, if they have been killed why do you feel they will be back?
why is the compost bin the issue? are you putting cooked things in etc that attract them, are they likely to just set up home nearby?

I am just throwing questions/ ideas about. The rats round here (touch wood) don't fuss about compost bins but I do have a double layer of chicken wire at the bottom of them. What the rats are interested in is sources of water.

[Cadalot]

What the rats are interested in is sources of water.

And that's why I don't have a pond on the plot

[Jungle Jane]

Having a waters source is important for the birds & the bees now,isn't there a saying like you're always 9 foot away from a rat? They're going to come back,the runs are all underground. I've got something in my compost bin,my cats really attracted to it,under the ground where the bin is,is a nice warm place for them to start a family.

[ESBkevin]

One source of metal grid type panels is old fridges. Wire them together and cross them over if the gaps are wide. I would also run chicken wire around the outside of the wooden bin. I assume it has a tight lid otherwise all bets are off as they'll climb in the top anyway.

[w33blegurl]

Thanks all. The bins are wooden so I appreciate it's quite feasible they could try and chew through if they come back. We had pest control come and put down poison so the original rats are dead! They were never nesting in the bins (I turn regularly to discourage) but we're tunnelling in to get veg scraps from the top that we had tried to compost. They had started to make a lot of mess in and around the bin, hence getting in pest control! As we will once again start to put the veg scraps in the bins I'm assuming it may well become an issue again (I'm sure there will be other rats about) so want to at least try and deter them.

The lids are a reasonably good fit but I'm not 100% sure they would stop a determined rat which may just chew them! The other option I considered was to put slabs under the bins with worm sized gaps between to let the good guys in and help keep the bad guys out.

I appreciate that nothing will be foolproof but I do want to at least try!

[bario1]

Try Freecycle/Gumtree - I just picked up five 1mx2m wire window grates for free.