Hamelin
We have always been very dismissive of people who told us not to add meat to the compost as it would attract rats. Bah, we said, slinging everything in, there are rats everywhere anyway so why would we care. And it’s true except. Except. I lifted the lid of the compost bin yesterday to check its progress*, and there are tunnels. Large ones. I dropped the lid sharpish – and, while I am still unbothered by the presence of rats in principle, I feel rather uninclined to turn it or even to pull compost out to use.
*it’s doing really well: in fact all 3 bins are composting fantastically just now. Rotting even faster, it seems, than they did in the summer. I wonder if they reach a kind of critical mass then just take off?
February 5th, 2008 17:14
oooh that is not good, you are obviously braver on the rat front than me.
February 6th, 2008 19:37
Hi Lisa – I had the same situation 3 years ago. I had to evict the critters, then I put galvanised wire mesh under the bin. It seems to have done the trick so far – touch wood.
I’m just about to reply to your question on my Blog. Sorry it’s been a while, just working out what I want to say about it.
February 7th, 2008 15:05
Tell me more, VP! Did you just kind of balance the bin on the wire mesh, or have you stapled it around to create a proper barrier?
February 7th, 2008 20:08
[…] commentsLisa: Tell me more, VP! Did you just…VP: I wanted to give you a big…VP: Hi Lisa – I had the same…Rachel: oooh that is not good, […]
February 14th, 2008 20:31
Hi Lisa,
Sorry it’s taken a while to reply. I cut off enough wire to go under the bin + a generous border all the way round. Made sure the ground was flattened, put down the wire and then put the bin on top!