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Compost heap question
ambodach
Posts: 20
Our large plastic compost bin has now been superseded by a 3 box wooden frame system, and needs to be dismantled.
Last summer we had problems with rats in the bin, not due to food-stuffs, but them moving into that area because of the bird feeders nearby, and the bin offering a nice warm nest box !!
We used rat poison (blue coloured corn grains) over a period of about a month to get rid of them. Is the compost compromised and should I get rid of it ?
Thanks
Rob
0
Posts
The risk with rats is they can carry salmonella and leptospirosis - you only need to fear the later in standing water or on wet vegetation. If it is well rotted compost, any rat evils should be long gone if the rats were dealt with last summer.
Whenever you walk past your compost bins give them a good kick or a bang on the side with a spade - gives rats a headache and they don't like it.
Also poke a sturdy stick in once a week and wriggle it about energetically - they don't like that either - if they were thinking of setting up home there they'll change their minds and move on to somewhere more peaceful
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks guys - it wasn't the rats I was concerned about - after all, they and mice are around. It was the poison - it went onto the top of the compost in a couple of small plastic containers, but there might have been a small about of spillage.
Yes poison is poison, but then weed killer is 'a killer' ! OK not a very good example as we accept that most weed killers decompose in time, and I did wonder if anyone knew if rat-killer did too, or if the percentage is so low as to be insignificant once spread into the ground.
The answer to that is going depend on which type of poison you used.
I would never place it in the compost, if baiting I place nearby the heap and stop adding obvious rat food such as vegetable scraps. Though all the worries with poison are solved if you shoot the things instead.
Just to point out that rats have no bladder control, they pee all the time so Lepto will be through the compost. Make sure you wash your hands if handling compost, but sunlight will kill the bacteria once it is spread.
I believe that the EU in the wisdom are seeking to prevent the sale of rat poison to the general public and that you will have to employ a specialist firm to kill your rats in the future. I guess that this will take away any doubt about poison and crops or compost in the future.