There's a rat in the compost ...
 

.... what am I going to do?

I disturbed a small one a few weeks ago - it was sat atop the pile when I
removed the lid from our green compost bin. I kept quiet about it, knowing
the furore it would cause amongst the female members of the household, and
the near-futility of trying to get rid of them (rats, not FMOH). However,
now that one of said female members has lifted the lid and had the same
experience, Action is going to Have to be Taken.

Mr Death of Rats from the council has been today, and put down poison. He
has advised us not to put any fruit or veg trimmings in the bin. Seems to
me we might as well not bother with a compost bin in that case.

I'm more inclined to resite the bin atop a rubble foundation, to make it
hard if not impossible to burrow into. What is exercising me most at the
moment is this: if rats have been living in my compost heap for a while
now, and adding their own potentially Weyl-laden excreta to it, is the
existing compost still fit to be spread upon the garden at all?

Andy

--
spargeatbtinternetdotcom

He who is not confused
is not in possession of all the facts.
Origin uncertain

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 19:00:04 +0100, Perry O'Dontal-Surgery
wrote:

... what am I going to do?

I disturbed a small one a few weeks ago - it was sat atop the pile when I
removed the lid from our green compost bin. I kept quiet about it, knowing
the furore it would cause amongst the female members of the household, and
the near-futility of trying to get rid of them (rats, not FMOH). However,
now that one of said female members has lifted the lid and had the same
experience, Action is going to Have to be Taken.

Mr Death of Rats from the council has been today, and put down poison. He
has advised us not to put any fruit or veg trimmings in the bin. Seems to
me we might as well not bother with a compost bin in that case.

Hmm. It'd really frustrate me. Especially when the councils are
pushing us to recycle and compost. Although we will soon be getting
food bags and boxes to send our food scraps off for recycling - which
we could use for veg waste but seems far too silly to have to do that
when there are perfectly good compost bins out there.

Have you been putting anything other than veg and fruit waste from the
kitchen in it? Or feeding the birds and having pigeons visit?

You could try one of those sealed one that you spin round.




I'm more inclined to resite the bin atop a rubble foundation, to make it
hard if not impossible to burrow into. What is exercising me most at the
moment is this: if rats have been living in my compost heap for a while
now, and adding their own potentially Weyl-laden excreta to it, is the
existing compost still fit to be spread upon the garden at all?

Andy


--
http://www.orderonlinepickupinstore.co.uk
Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Or get it delivered for free

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

Try a Green Joanna. No way in for the rats.

http://www.recycleforcornwall.org.uk.../greenjohanna/

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 19:43:01 +0100, "CWatters"
wrote:

Try a Green Joanna. No way in for the rats.

http://www.recycleforcornwall.org.uk.../greenjohanna/


£98.99!!!!!!!!!

My LA doesn't offer me a discount on this - what discount is offered
by those that do?

It sounds interesting though - and might eliminate the problem I have
with my current bin - snails try and get in but get wedged in the gaps
and die, but the shells remain.
--
http://www.orderonlinepickupinstore.co.uk
Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Or get it delivered for free

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

"Mogga" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 19:43:01 +0100, "CWatters"
wrote:

Try a Green Joanna. No way in for the rats.


http://www.recycleforcornwall.org.uk.../greenjohanna/


£98.99!!!!!!!!!


Expensive yes - there are probably cheaper bins available ot make your owm.
The Green Joanna is enclosed, not to keep rats out but to increase the
temperature. It even comes with insulation to go on the outside.

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

In article ,
"CWatters" wrote:


I'm not sure about your arrangement but...
Its not impossible that the rat(s) only visit the compost
bin as a food source. This means that they need access/egress.
Stop that and they go elsewhere.
If your compost heap is fairly dry - it has lots of dry garden
material in it or dry cardboard, then they may have made a nest
in it. Make sure it is mostly soaking wet for a while.
They'll move out.

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

On 4 Sep, 19:00, Perry O'Dontal-Surgery wrote:
... what am I going to do?
(snip)
I'm more inclined to resite the bin atop a rubble foundation, to make it
hard if not impossible to burrow into. What is exercising me most at the
moment is this: if rats have been living in my compost heap for a while
now, and adding their own potentially Weyl-laden excreta to it, is the
existing compost still fit to be spread upon the garden at all?

I would give the compost another season to fully decompose but I
wouldn't get rid of it. You must wash your vegs always before eating,
wash your hands always after gardening etc. Just keep good hygiene.
I'd tend to also agree with what John has said about the compost being
cozy and you have perhaps provided a 5 stars hotel for them. Check
your access thoroughly too.

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

On 4 Sep, 19:00, Perry O'Dontal-Surgery wrote:
... what am I going to do?

I disturbed a small one a few weeks ago - it was sat atop the pile when I
removed the lid from our green compost bin. I kept quiet about it, knowing
the furore it would cause amongst the female members of the household, and
the near-futility of trying to get rid of them (rats, not FMOH). However,
now that one of said female members has lifted the lid and had the same
experience, Action is going to Have to be Taken.

Mr Death of Rats from the council has been today, and put down poison. He
has advised us not to put any fruit or veg trimmings in the bin. Seems to
me we might as well not bother with a compost bin in that case.

I'm more inclined to resite the bin atop a rubble foundation, to make it
hard if not impossible to burrow into. What is exercising me most at the
moment is this: if rats have been living in my compost heap for a while
now, and adding their own potentially Weyl-laden excreta to it, is the
existing compost still fit to be spread upon the garden at all?

Andy

--
spargeatbtinternetdotcom

He who is not confused
is not in possession of all the facts.
Origin uncertain

was Mr Death of Rats a small squeaky fellow who could of done with a
good meal perchance?

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

"Perry O'Dontal-Surgery" wrote in message
...
... what am I going to do?

I disturbed a small one a few weeks ago - it was sat atop the pile when I
removed the lid from our green compost bin. I kept quiet about it, knowing
the furore it would cause amongst the female members of the household,

?

I saw a rat today, walking vfrom under the hen coop and under the log pile
under the bread oven. I didn't do whatever the verb from 'furore' is :-)

Mr Death of Rats from the council has been today, and put down poison. He
has advised us not to put any fruit or veg trimmings in the bin. Seems to
me we might as well not bother with a compost bin in that case.

And not much point in putting down poison. The rat you saw might eat it and
die but more rats will move in - Nature abbhors a vacuum is especially trued
in respect of rats.

You can buy a rat trap - like a mouse trap only bigger. They're effective.
But only for so long (see above).

I'm more inclined to resite the bin atop a rubble foundation, to make it
hard if not impossible to burrow into. What is exercising me most at the
moment is this: if rats have been living in my compost heap for a while
now, and adding their own potentially Weyl-laden excreta to it, is the
existing compost still fit to be spread upon the garden at all?

You're very unlikely to be infected by Weil's disease in that situation.
You're more likely to be infected by human-borne diseases.

Mary

Buy a Jack Rusell, problem solved,

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

"Granity" wrote in message
...

Mary Fisher;745423 Wrote:
"Perry O'Dontal-Surgery" wrote in message
...-
... what am I going to do?

I disturbed a small one a few weeks ago - it was sat atop the pile
when I
removed the lid from our green compost bin. I kept quiet about it,
knowing
the furore it would cause amongst the female members of the
household,-

?

I saw a rat today, walking vfrom under the hen coop and under the log
pile
under the bread oven. I didn't do whatever the verb from 'furore' is
:-)
-
Mr Death of Rats from the council has been today, and put down poison.
He
has advised us not to put any fruit or veg trimmings in the bin. Seems
to
me we might as well not bother with a compost bin in that case.-

And not much point in putting down poison. The rat you saw might eat it
and
die but more rats will move in - Nature abbhors a vacuum is especially
trued
in respect of rats.

You can buy a rat trap - like a mouse trap only bigger. They're
effective.
But only for so long (see above).-

I'm more inclined to resite the bin atop a rubble foundation, to make
it
hard if not impossible to burrow into. What is exercising me most at
the
moment is this: if rats have been living in my compost heap for a
while
now, and adding their own potentially Weyl-laden excreta to it, is
the
existing compost still fit to be spread upon the garden at all?-

You're very unlikely to be infected by Weil's disease in that
situation.
You're more likely to be infected by human-borne diseases.

Mary

Buy a Jack Rusell, problem solved,

Not for us, thanks!

A trap is much cheaper and doesn't need feeding and 'exercising' - i.e.
taken to someone else's property to dump.

Any dog would freak our hens.

Dogs can carry disease ...

:-)

Mary




--
Granity

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

On 6/9/07 09:45, in article ,
"Mary Fisher" wrote:


"Granity" wrote in message
...

Mary Fisher;745423 Wrote:
snip
Buy a Jack Rusell, problem solved,

Not for us, thanks!

A trap is much cheaper and doesn't need feeding and 'exercising' - i.e.
taken to someone else's property to dump.

Any dog would freak our hens.

Dogs can carry disease ...

:-)

Mary

Our Jack Russell has asked us to point out that rats *do* carry disease,
while he is happy and healthy, exercises and 'dumps' only on our property.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

On 6 Sep, 09:45, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
Dogs can carry disease ...

I would have never ever thought you'd think like this about dogs. How
very strange. I find people who don't like nor understand dogs have
something missing in their life.

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

wrote in message
ps.com...
On 6 Sep, 09:45, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
Dogs can carry disease ...

I would have never ever thought you'd think like this about dogs. How
very strange. I find people who don't like nor understand dogs have
something missing in their life.

It's true though - like humans and rats and all other animal life we are
vectors for disease. I was making a point that dogs are the same as rats in
that respect.

Nevertheless, although I've liked some special dogs I'm not a dog lover,
that doesn't make me unusual. And there's nothing missing in my life - it's
too full already :-)

Mary

There's a rat in the compost ...
 

On 6 Sep, 12:14, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
It's true though - like humans and rats and all other animal life we are
vectors for disease. I was making a point that dogs are the same as rats in
that respect.

True indeed. But there's a little difference - I know where my dogs
have been, not sure about the rats. But I understand your point.

Nevertheless, although I've liked some special dogs I'm not a dog lover,
that doesn't make me unusual. And there's nothing missing in my life - it's
too full already :-)

Well, you are a err... 'woman-who-should-have-a-dog'. I mean, I've
*met* you in real life and I know these things and it's wrong if you
don't. Go and get a dog please!!! LOL!!