Mine have been pretty dry this year. I had to resort to using a tub trug of water, soak the compost overnight, then throw it all back in the bin. Just mixing it with grass cuttings wasn't doing it, and pouring water on it went straight through. That got it going again. I wish I had slow worms or grass snakes. Very pleased with the toad though. We have several species of animal that are on Biodiversity Action Plans. (BAP species) This is useful as we have developers wanting to put 45 houses next door on a site that has been virtually undisturbed for the wildlife living in it for 60 years. No crested newts, but we have Toads, three sorts of Bat, a rare moth, dunnocks, thrushes, and bullfinches all on the action plans, all reliant on all the species that proliferate in a pesticide free diverse environment. Most of which I have taken for granted for the last thirty years.
Slow worms don't bite, they will just flee if disturbed. If they feel very threatened (attack by fox/cat/dog) they will jettison their tail which will thrash around in its own as a distraction while the animal escapes. As they are a protected species you are not allowed to handle them.
Wow, I'm quite jealous of the wildlife! Mine is just full of ants, worms, and potatoes. I should dig the latter out and see if they are edible so that I can make more room for kitchen scraps.
My composting area is so small I can't get enough distance to photograph it well without taking down the fence. But hey ho.
I have two of the regular black dustbins with lids. They have drainage holes drilled in the bottom and they bins are very easy to turn, empty and generally work with, as they are so low. I got them for £10. Beside them I keep bags of soft bark and wood chip to add as and when I need, esp if things get too wet. I add pretty much all my household paper (loo rolls, A4 white scrap paper, cotton buds, spam leaftlets etc). Paper makes up a good bit of the "brown" (dry) half of my compost as it's what I have to hand. I don't use paper with glossy print on it, not because it isn't safe, but because it seems to take ages to break down. I only add small items - from the kitchen and garden and no large bits of twig, hedging etc. Because of this, the dustbins (with lots of turning) have a 2-3 month summer cycle from waste to lovely soil.
In addition to the dustbins I have a Hot Bin (which amazing but often v hot and v tall) and a green bin (plus water butt pictures, getting water off the shed roof). I don't need all four bins for my inputs (single householder at the mo), so one or two are usually used for storage of manure, wood chip, leaf mould or something similar. The system works well now.
The Hot Bin works so fast and turns veg matter to soil so efficiently that I can almost just use that. I can take out a bit of soil regularly through the summer. It's very well designed but hard to turn because the top comes up to my chest and it can get v hot if balanced and managed. I've had it up to 70oC which worms hate. Worms love the black dustbins as they are cooler. The dustbins double as worm farms (they arrive on their own) and often there is a similar mass there of worms to compost.
Oddly there is a huge ants' nest in the bottom of the Hot Bin. It's very damp down there, almost soggy. They have created beautiful honeycomb structures in the soil which helps them to regulate the temp - for incubating the eggs etc. The temp of the bin suddenly dropped in July from about 60oC to 15oC and now I know why. I will leave them be as I don't need the soil at the mo. The nest looks to be about 60/60cm - very impressive to watch up close, a colony that large. No doubt all the ant poo will be a rich resource.
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Thank you for sharing your pics! Wow!
I have a feeling mine is a bit dry, will give it a quick sprinkle with the hose tomorrow xx