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Sat, Dec 10, 11 at 20:45
| Well, after reading the thread on rats (shudder) and having an infestation of my own, I've decided that I have to move my compost bin away from the house! I see ratty fatties munching and skittering every once in a while!
I loved having the bin right outside the back door and off the deck so I don't have to slog out in the rain, but I want to be rat-free! I've enclosed everything a rat might want and haven't seen any sign of them for a week or so. I guess I'll just move everything to the fence near the neighbor's barn (where the rats CAME from!), then her cats and the hawks can get to them and there is no place for them to hide. I guess I'll just have to slog out in my muck boots a couple times a week! =) Nancy |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Sun, Dec 11, 11 at 9:46
| If you use coffee and work the pile keep it hot, that really helps. The stuff breaks down fast. The average bin that is round and plastic only the smallest rats can get inside it, or you can get the rat proof bin. If they are big rats, as you mentioned, are you using a wire mesh bin? |
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- Posted by nancyjane_gardener USDA 8ish No CA (My Page) on Sun, Dec 11, 11 at 20:40
| I just have a 4 teired one that Petaluma City was selling for pretty cheap a few years ago. I'm a pretty lazy composter and don't turn it on a regular basis. I think if the rats are exposed to the cats, owls and hawks, we should be OK. NT |
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- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Mon, Dec 12, 11 at 11:59
| To save yourself the rainy trips to dump kitchen waste, get a 5-gallon bucket with a lid to keep near the back door, with a brick on top so the little b@$t@rd$ can't get into it. When it's full and the weather is nice, haul it out to the bin. Have you considered a pellet gun? They make some really powerful ones nowadays... :-D |
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- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Mon, Dec 12, 11 at 17:14
| Even better you can freeze them in plastic bags, until you are ready to take them out, and there is no smell that way. I use the ziplocks. |
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- Posted by nancyjane_gardener USDA 8ish No CA (My Page) on Mon, Dec 12, 11 at 20:31
| Tox and tropical- good thoughts!Not sure about the pellet gun, though! HOWEVERRRRRRR, my cop daughter has been wanting to go to the shooting range......NT |
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| One February I found a nest of mice in one compost pile, other than that the other eight years were free of rodent pests. Turning the pile once a month might discourage them. The compost pile was more attractive (and warmer) than the wood pile I expect. |
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- Posted by nancyjane_gardener USDA 8ish No CA (My Page) on Wed, Dec 14, 11 at 20:51
| I have a bullet-style tumbler that I haven't been using for awhile, so I have decided to dump the household stuff into that and collect a ton of leaves to add, then when things are fairly broken down, I'll add them to the main bin to finish. It's a bit more of a hassle going out to the tumbler (I'll get that 5 gal bucket and do it 1-2x per week, thank you), but I think I'll get less lazy and tumble it 1-2xs per week. Since I don't have garbage service, we create quite a bit of compostable material. We'll see how fast that little bullet tumbler fills up! Nancy |
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