I've got a mouse in my compost bin...

[Bex]

Will this do any harm? How do i get rid of it/them?

Opened the bin today to put the kitchen scraps in and there it was sitting on top looking at me, scared the hell out of me I can tell you.

Can't work out how it got in, its a dalek type with a top and a bottom and a tight fitting flap to get the compost out. Will this harm my compost, do I leave it?

[mikk100]

I would also appreciate an answer to this from anybody. I have been wondering for some time if it were more than just birds feeding from my bird tables and yesterday found my answer, a huge brown rat emerged from under my decking, up onto the table and took away some nuts, he kept on returning throughout the day when I was there. I really don't want to kill him if I can help it but no-one I've spoken to thinks that is an option. As the allotment is in the countryside is it not just one of those things that you will get rats and mice, and what harm do they do??? I really don't know if my rat(s) will do damage or not, will they eat my crops??? I do know about the diseases they might carry but he didn't look dirty like a sewer rat....think I'm just trying to convince myself that I don't need to kill it, I spent much of yesterday trying to convince myself it wasn't a rat but some huge hamster...

[mandyballantyne]

Hi,

Not sure if the mouse will cause a problem it will probably leave when the weather gets better and food becomes more available.

Rats I think do cause problems but by no means an expert. I do know that they are creatures of habbit and always follow the same trail, maybe if you can block his walk way he will find it hard to get back to your table.

I am sure someone will have a better idea though, Mandy

[Nicos]

Mouse is ok so long as you are not overrun by them...
Rats are different and need to be taken more seriously!
Get the pest control in

www.iphe.org.uk/health/weils_disease.html

www.caveinfo.org.uk/nca/weils.htm

- for your information......

[Bex]

I was assuming that the mouse would go once the compost heap started warming up, hope this isn't just wishful thinking

[SueA]

Bex/Mikk100 - borrow a cat!
The mouse could have got in through the tiniest gap Bex, or might even have nibbled a hole through the plastic somewhere.It may have a nest in there in which case you might get a bigger shock next time you look in. You could try emptying out the compost to make sure & maybe re-siting it & refilling it, but as you say if the contents heat up properly the mouse might just move on of it's own accord

[Nicos]

Bex- now that the weather is warming up a bit, you should be turning your compost regularly anyway to encourage it to rot down.
As soon as you start to disturb the area, the mouse will nip off somewhere else to nest which will be safer for it's babies!!
( well I assume you have to turn the compost in a Dalek too????)

[Hazel at the Hill]

Bex/Mikk100 - borrow a cat!

Not 100% foolproof - my cats bring little mice home to play - and then we all have a merry game of chase.

Tell you what, mice don't half move!

[Lesley Jay]

If the rat is on the allotment then bringing in pest control would be expensive. There are bound to be more than one aswell.

The person with the answer is our own Rat. Hopefully he will be along later with some advice.

[xspye]

Rats do need to be controlled but then again so do mice.
You will never have just one especially if there is a good source of food, bird table are a classic as are chicken and pets kept outdoors such as rabbits.

Bests thing you can do is stop feeding the birds in which case the rats will go and find somewhere else to look for food or look at some form of control i.e. baiting (can be an issue if bird/other animals get the bait) or trapping (you then have to work out how to kill the rat you've caught, drowning is best if your not hands on). Rats carry a number of diseases and can be very distructive, they also breed very rapidly so while 2 or 3 aren't too much of an issue continue feeding and you will end up with a LOT of rats in the garden, under the shed/decking etc.

With regard to mice i speak from experience that mice will eat your crops anything from tomatos to spinach has been nibbled or completely destroyed. In addition mice have no control over thier bladders so where ever a mouse has been it has pee'd not a nice thought if like me my friut & veg get a cursary scrub if they are lucky before i eat them.

Sorry to be the bringer of doom and gloom

[mikk100]

thanks everybody for your comments, I have stopped feeding the birds and I will block off the hole so the rat has to go another way, hopefully he will find somewhere else to live. If I get overrun I will have to consider the inevitable. It looks like I have a fox moved in aswell judging by the size of some new holes and mounds of earth I discovered yesterday so maybe him disturbing the soil might cause the rats to move on.

[Lesley Jay]

You don't want a fox! I have seen an allotment plot collapse because of their digging.

[mikk100]

oh dear, maybe gardening and wildlife don't mix.

[Digger-07]

Mouse is ok so long as you are not overrun by them...
Rats are different and need to be taken more seriously!
Get the pest control in

.

There is no such thing as one mouse and if you have one then eventually you are likely to be overun with them especially as they can get fed by you regularly. It might even have got in by tunnel, I noticed one has got in my greenhouse by tunneling under the aluminium base - an underground distance of about 2 feet. I set a humane trap and moved three so far to another field about a mile away. I know it is not the same one because I put a but of paint on his tail as an experiment after the second one tripped the trap.

[smallblueplanet]

oh dear, maybe gardening and wildlife don't mix.

Gardening and certain wildlife don't always get on!