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Compost heap being eaten

garydouglasclarkgarydouglasclark Posts: 5
in Problem solving
Hi. I have a few old and dry compost heaps. They were in bins but I removed the bins a few weeks ago to give away, which left tall compost piles standing there. Over the last couple of weeks something has been eating the heaps from the bottom upwards, so something not too big. The compost is chocker with roots and vegetation, and its this that is being eaten. All that's left is a small fine heap of dark compost, no roots or vegetation. Has anyone any idea what could be eating the compost? I'm not bothered that it has been eaten, I just want to identify what animal is in my garden at night.

Any help gratefully received. 

Regards,
Gary. 
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Posts

  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    A mystery.  Can you include some images?  Holes?  Tracks?  Scat?  
    Utah, USA.
  • garydouglasclarkgarydouglasclark Posts: 5
    Hi, I'll have a go at posting some pics. 


    Seems to have worked. The 2 heaps in the pictures were approx 1 foot taller 2 weeks ago. They were also both conical in shape, just like the compost bins are.


    Gary.
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    Badgers looking for worms?
    Utah, USA.
  • garydouglasclarkgarydouglasclark Posts: 5
    Can badgers climb 6'6" fences? Not sure of their abilities. The only gaps in my fencing would allow a smaller animal through. A rat or maybe a small hedgehog. Anything bigger would have to go over or under. The heaps are quite dry so probably no worms in there.
  • JellyfireJellyfire Posts: 1,139
    Are you sure they have actually been eaten? It looks like they may have just been scratted about by birds and the spoil is just spread around a larger area?
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Compost-cam?
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I agree with birds. Blackbirds regularly dig in my flower pots for tasty bugs and they can really shift some soil. Bigger birds like jackdaws and rooks would easily do that and they're all over easy to dig soil at the moment with this weather. I even caught a group of jackdaws picking the dead flies from the grill of my car today. They could have been trying to pinch the numberplate mind, buggers will steal anything. :o

    Badgers would scatter that heap in minutes, they're expert diggers.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • garydouglasclarkgarydouglasclark Posts: 5
    Thanks for all these great answers. 

    Love the "compost cam" idea. Unfortunately I don't have a suitable camera and probably not worth the cost of buying one just for this occasion. 

    I can see how the birds would go through it looking for bugs, but if you look at the shallow heap of soil on the ground, there is no vegetation left in it. Where would that have gone? 

    Also, where you see that soil on the ground is where the stack was. So over a 3rd of that stack has disappeared, including the vegetation (like you see in the remainder of the stack.

    The smaller round stack is actually just the top of a heap. The bottom has disappeared completely. Probably around 12 to 18 inches (maybe more) has gone from the bottom. 

    Is there anything at all that would eat that type of vegetation. It's probably half way to becoming fully composted, so it's very light.

    Thanks again for all the replies.

  • Mary370Mary370 Posts: 2,003
    It's very possibly the birds as the ground is so hard due to this heatwave, they're probably taking out the worms
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I imagine greener would become browns in this heat. Esp if covered in soil. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
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