Do compost bins attract rats?
Some people worry that having a compost bin could attract rats. However, this is not the case. There are many reasons why rats may be already in the vicinity of your garden. For example if you live near water, farm land/open countryside or derelict buildings, you are likely to have rats living around the local area. They may be attracted into your garden, like other animals, to look for a dry place to shelter or to find food. One common source of food is leftover food on your birdtable.
A rat is only likely to seek out a compost bin in the garden if incorrect waste items have been composted, making the bin a source of food as well as a shelter. For this reason you should not compost cooked foods, dairy products, meat, fish or bones.
If you are still concerned about rats, there are various ways in which you can discourage them from wanting to visit your compost bin:
If you are still concerned about rats, there are various ways in which you can discourage them from wanting to visit your compost bin:
- Be an active composter. Rats are shy creatures and don’t like disturbance, noise or changes in the physical environment in the garden. Regularly adding a good mix of materials to your compost bin and perhaps even aerating the material now and then will ensure that the composting process works effectively and the frequent disturbance inside and around the bin will act as an effective deterrent against rats.
- Ensure that you don’t add any cooked or processed food waste, meat, fish or dairy products.
- Rats prefer a dry environment to shelter in. Adding a balance of ‘greens and browns’ should ensure that the compost does not provide a dry habitat – the contents of an ideal compost bin should be about as moist as a wrung-out sponge. If your bin does get too dry add some water. It will help the composting and deter visitors.
- Use a compost bin with a lid rather than a loose heap for making compost making it harder for rats to gain access in the first place.
- Site the bin away from walls and fences and anywhere that can be a sheltered ‘runway’. Rats don’t like to cross open spaces and won’t want to be regularly exposed to get to a bin. Similarly, don’t tuck your compost bin away in a part of the garden you rarely visit. Put it somewhere that you regularly walk past the bin, not only will it discourage rats but it will remind you and encourage you to be an active composter.
- Plastic bases for compost bins are available commercially and are a further deterrent, but it is more effective to wrap wire mesh around the bottom and underneath the compost bin to prevent rats getting in (but still allowing worms to enter the compost bin and providing drainage). Chicken wire double or triple folded is adequate but plaster mesh (expanded metal) is the better solution. It’s thicker than chicken wire so harder to chew through and can be obtained from any builders merchants.
- If you follow the advice above you should be able to deter rats from ever entering a compost bin. However, if you still have concerns you should contact your local authority to find out what assistance they can provide under their environmental health policy.
- Also remember, that it is always a good idea to wear gloves when handling compost and soil.
This information is consistent with advice provided by Garden Organic, the National Charity for Organic Growing. The Garden Organic advisory team have not seen any noticeable increase in the number of queries they receive relating to problems with rats when home composting, despite the sharp increase in home composting in the UK in recent years.
