"Cat" wrote in message
...
Gasp!
I was turning my compost bin over the week end, and four rats ran
out of
it...
I was warned not to put any cooked or meat based organic stuff in
the bin,
and have been careful not to.
The following is what goes in:
Grass clippings (possibly a little too much, as it is a bit wet and
yukky at
the moment)
Shredded paper (newspaper and other, but not glossy paper)
Kitchen waste (veg peelings, stale bread, and such)
Shrub/tree clippings
Weeds
Is some of what I am putting in at fault? Is the fact that my
compost is
too wet part of the problem? I have added shredded newspaper this
w/e to
try and mop up the wet.
Fortunately, my box is at the very end of the garden, and therefore
not near
the house - so no danger of rats moving in. Still, I would like to
do
something about it, but am a bit at a loss...
I should say that the land beyond our back boundary - against which
the
composter backs - is wasteland which may well have its own rat
population,
although I am only surmising this.
So not only do I need to get rid of the current inhabitants of my
bin but
I'd need to make sure I am not attracting any more.
I did turn the compost reasonably thoroughly this w/e, so that the
grassy
goo is more homogeneously spread - perhaps rats are not keen on a
gooey
home?
I really do not know what to do... help!

Calm down. Cats also are vectors for a number of diseases, and yet
there are folk who live blissfully with cats as pets.
Did you know that the police are now training rats to do the jobs that
sniffer dogs usually to do? The rats are apparently better at it.

Franz

Franz