You were lucky because the time I disturbed one it leapt up and out the bin
Another time one sat in middle of the day in middle of veg plot just looking
at me


"Neil Trotter" wrote in message
news
In article , Andrew Wells
said:

We've got rat(s) in our compost bin (wooden "beehive" sort, with gaps
between
the sections and at the bottom that I can well believe are big enough
for a
rat to squeeze through). The council sent someone round today to put
down
bait, but:
- is there anything I can do to stop them coming back?
- will the worms in there be okay?
- is there any danger of the rat(s) dying in there?
- will the compost still be okay to use?

This happened here a few months ago, and I got a little bit anxious
about whether I had been putting the wrong sort of stuff in the bin.
But I'd not put on meat or cooked stuff, so was a little perplexed, not
to mention be-willied, as I hate the little buggers.

I pondered the problem for a day or two, came in and searched here for
subjects including "rat". I think it was Nick Maclaren then who
suggested turning the compost (I'm too lazy to check back), and someone
else (could have been Nick again) pointed out that it's likely they're
there for the worms. I have very juicy worms, very proud of them.

So I started churning the heap in the bottom of the bin. The first day
was uneventful (perhaps he was visiting the neighbours), but on the
second day, rattus compostus took exception to the disturbance, and
started leaping about. And take it from me, they can jump pretty high.
Luckily, the compost was low, and this one couldn't quite reach the top
of the bin -- I just now literally shuddered when I thought of him
actually making it over the edge. Yikes.

Anyway, after a couple of minutes, I gathered the courage to peek
gingerly over the rim ... and there, protruding from his little hole,
was a little ratty tail. So he couldn't see me ... but I could see him.
And guess what I had in my hand, turning compost, for the use of? One
sharp & shiny Spear & Jackson four-tyne garden fork.

It was a clean kill, though I chose to wait until the next day to check.
I didn't leave it in the compost, though this owes more to my aversion
to rats than to reason.

But I'm happy to report that after this one (so far) isolated case, I
took no special steps (garden forks aside), and around 3 months later
I've seen no more rats, and don't feel as stigmatised as originally I
thought I might.

The worms are pretty happy about it too.



--
Neil Trotter, Canewdon, UK