Bokashi and rats

[MaureenHall]

Well I did what the instructions for my full Bokashi bins said and buried 1 bucketful in the compost bin (it's a dalek) and another bucketful in one of my raised beds. Both places are here at home and not on the lottie. I've obviously not buried the stuff deep enough and now I've got rats!!!! I don't want to get Environmental Health in to get rid of them because I'm sure they'll say I have to get rid of the chooks in case they're a contributing factor (I'm sure they aren't, no food is EVER left out overnight and the girls clear every scrap of corn etc that I scatter for them). It's just the 2 Bokashi disposal sites that's showing evidence of rats. So, what's the best way to get rid of them? My friend said that once they've eaten it all then the food source will no longer be available and they'll move on somewhere else. Is this true? I really do hate the little b*****rs and I've got no conscience about killing the lot of them (or having them killed, I'm scared to death of them!). It's really worrying and upsetting me, so any helpful suggestions are truly welcome and I'll be forever grateful

[Two_Sheds]

Water your Dalek really well ... rats don't like getting all wet

Did your Bokashi have meat in it?

[MaureenHall]

It possibly did have some meat in, also dried-up cheese and plate-scrapings but it's mainly tea bags. I'll get my friend to put the hose-pipe in the bin at the weekend, I don't really want to be up close and personal with the critters. What do you suggest about the raised bed? It's got a piece of old carpet over it at the moment and they're underneath it (with a nice tunnel and a run going into it!)

[Alison]

It's fine to put meat in your bokashi bin but you do need to make sure it's cut up small so that the bran can get enough contact. I've never had any problems with rats and am not too good on burying it deep either so suggest you make sure everything is cut up and maybe up your bran levels a bit and see how you go.

[JimmerG]

MH,

Have you made sure the Bokashi is really well fermented - I spend a couple of weeks filling one - then it sits around for a couple of weeks - brewing. Its my understanding that rats hate fermented food.

[lainey lou]

Oh dear Maureen, thats really horrible for you.
I put my bokashi contents into my darlek, it sometimes has the odd chicken carcass or leftovers. Last year I thought I had a rat problem but it turned out to be a vole! Not quite so scarey (still squeeled embarassingly though!) Hope you manage to get it sorted.