Q: Will my compost attract rats?
My husband is concerned about placing a compost bin in the back yard. he thinks this might attract rats or other animals. Three years ago neighbors had a problem with. They had garbage cans outside. Can this happen?
Tags: compost, compost bin attracting rodents, rat, rodents
July 28th, 2009 at 11:20 am
From my experience, compost will not attract rats so long as you keep meat, dairy & oils out of the compost (stick to yard waste, fruits & veggie kitchen scraps, etc). We have four bins just 8 feet from the side of our house and have not had a pest problem (other than the deer occasionally grazing on the kitchen scraps).
July 31st, 2009 at 2:59 am
I agree with Autumn; a well-mixed pile should not attract rats. Believe it or not, I have heard that rats do not like ‘dirty’ food; when you blend your vegetable trimmings into you pile you make them unappetizing to vermin.
August 5th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Never had rats, but my dog likes it…
I too agree with the above, a really dry compost pile (sticks, pine needles, dry grass) might be an attractive nest… but I have never seen any evidence of rats (or any other rodents / vermin) in my piles.
Now my dog on the other hand… loves compost, it’s like all his favorite things in the world (grass, table scraps, horse manure) set aside in a pile just for him. To keep him away from the pile I have a piece of chicken wire forming a circular barrier around the pile… it’s staked down to the ground and stands about 4′ tall. It’s not much of a barrier (pretty wobbly) but it keeps him out. Happy composting!
August 12th, 2009 at 6:58 am
I live within the city limits in Asheville, NC, and I have had problems in the past with rats and other rodents being attracted to my compost pile. My first pile was simply a “pile” layered with all the right food scraps (no meat, dairy, etc), garden trimmings and weeds, leaves, straw, soil. When the rats showed up I bought a square compost bin, hoping to discourage activity, but it wasn’t hard for the rats to dig under it. They did not seem to be put off by the “dirty” food.
By this point my neighbors were getting annoyed (as was I) so I bought one of those drums that is completely contained and you just rotate it to mix the compost. This is not as satisfactory to me as having the compost in contact with the ground, but it did solve the vermin issue.
August 18th, 2009 at 10:31 am
If rats are digging under your bin, putting down a layer of heavy wire hardware cloth secured by bricks can help.