[SusieB]

I  have rats in my compost - there are quite large droppings and a burrowed hole.  I presume I can still use the compost, as I imagine a lot of people have them, but don't realise?

Is the compost safe to grow veg in?

Many thanks.

[barley]

I have had 7 rats taken up residence in the garden this year , ( it seems to be an awful year for them )  thankfully we have managed to clear them all with no further signs of holes or droppings

Re the compost try turning the heap Rats don't like being disturbed , they may move somewhere else in the garden though so you need to trap or poison them or you will be overrun with offspring

I would imagine the compost will be ok to use as the rat droppings will rot along with all other organic matter

[JayG]

Weil's disease is surprisingly rare amongst the general public (i.e. those who don't spend much of their time in close proximity to or working with the animals which can transmit it), so other than taking sensible precautions like washing your hands after touching the compost and not letting it get into any skin wounds you may have I don't think there is much to worry about, although evicting the rats and preventing them from returning would obviously be a good idea if it can be achieved.

Estimates for the number of rats in the UK vary between 10 and 80 million (in other words, guesswork  ) but whatever the actual figure there certainly are a lot of them, and as you said I daresay most of us will have had our gardens or plots at least 'visited' by them on many occasions without realising it.