Unpleasant compost bin experience!

Ooh, I had this, but rats. I was a big baby and left them to it!

But apparently if you make a noise then they'll scatter, but presumably not if babies. You could leave them to it over the winter and then sort it out in the spring...but I suppose if you persuaded them to rehome now then they've got a chance to settle in before the winter.

I get mice in my shed every winter but they clear out in the spring.

Hi
    Keep disturbing them and put so poison near the bins ,do you realise they will eat your crops (potatoes ,carrots etc)and spread disease by going near your crops .

Our site adjoins farmland and the water meadow, and rats are a major problem. We have found that keeping compost nicely damp discouraging them from actually nesting in the bins themselves, and solar powers sonic repellers pointing along paths provide some crop protection. I move these about depending on what the priority is.

I hope that this helps at least reduce their impact

They lay in July and the eggs take 10 weeks to hatch (thanks wikipedia!) so we are bang in the middle of the incubating season ....

I'm pretty sure we have them in our allotment compost heap at the moment.  Each year when we put the compost out on the beds we find the old egg cases, and it is cooking at the moment.  We are right by a stream so it is ideal.    The downside is the number of frogs has dropped off drastically. 

Treated myself to a whizz-bang gadget - a compost aerator. Shaped like a giant corkscrew, you wind it into the compost, lift it up - bits from the bottom come to the top - the compost is aerated - genius piece of kit. However, without going into gory details - the other day it was obvious I'd disturbed a mouse nest. I know critters like to nest in bins and I don't want to hurt anything. So, what to do? Do I leave the bins alone? Do I make a noise as I approach? Advice please!   

I can absolutely sympathise Lotty.  Last year when spreading out some lovely compost on one of our beds I saw something move then realised there were little baby mice everywhere! Somehow I hadn't damaged them and OH gathered them up and put them behind the compost bin in a small box.  When we looked a few minutes later they had all gone, mum mouse had gathered them up amazingly.  Since then I've had a few mousey close encounters, including a couple of days ago when one popped up in a sack I'd stored some cooked compost in.  I dread wounding any but must make compost.  I knew about turning it frequently and do try but it's usually a job at the bottom of my list as its a massive workout!  I didn't know about water deterring them with water though I suppose it's obvious. We are surrounded by fields and I'm happy to watch them at a distance but worry about close encounters!

Hello gardeners,
I had the same problem a few years ago.
Mouse traps didn't work. The mice ignored them.
I use to give the bin (a plastic one) a kick now and again when passing.
Then I found out they were going into the greenhouse at times (either during the day or during the night) put the traps there and not seen them since.
Also I saturated the bin with water and now ensure it's kept moist.
But do still occasionally find slow worm in there. But that alright with me.

I accidently killed a poor little vole that had been living in my compost recently I've stopped using the wooden open type compost bins for composting, I'm just putting stuff to go to the tip in them like bind weed & couch grass.

Someone gave me a darlek and I mean to put some concrete slabs underneath. I know it doesn't do the compost any good but I'm too squeamish to deal with rodents and accidently killing them. - I guess this is why the super duper rotating bins off the ground are so good.

Thanks for the tip re keeping the compost wet, my darlek at home is very dry and I've been being a water cheapskate and not chucking anything on it. don't want rats at home although we have plenty of local cats