Content
- Are mice harmful in compost?
- Mice in compost - useful or harmful?
- Mice as transmitters of diseases?
- How to fight mice in the composter
- Tips
Mice in compost are nothing unusual
Are mice harmful in compost?
Unfortunately, the compost heap often attracts unwanted visitors. Especially mice like to stay in the compost, because they find there good living conditions, if you do not fill the composter properly. Do you need to fight mice in compost?
Mice in compost - useful or harmful?
Hardly anyone likes mice in compost, but they can not do much damage. Some gardeners even believe that unsolicited visitors will further loosen the compost and eradicate harmful insects such as maggots and larvae of the weevil and other beetles.
Basically, it can be said that you do not necessarily have to fight the mice. However, if unavoidable, look for ways to drive the rodents instead of killing them. Even better is to prevent an infestation from the beginning.
Very useful in compost is the shrew, which is not a mouse. It is an insectivore and eliminates the maggots and larvae of harmful beetles and other insects that are undesirable in the garden. You should never fight shrews.
Mice as transmitters of diseases?
The fact that mice transmit compost in diseases is now considered obsolete. At best, they are a hygienic problem if they get over their food supplies in the pantry or leave their feces in the house.
How to fight mice in the composter
Mice are attracted by the warm temperatures prevailing in the composter. Only when it gets too hot at over 40 degrees, they pull themselves back.
If the compost is not warm enough, you should shift it so that the outer layers get inside. This will bring you another hot rot. At the same time you make the mice too uncomfortable in the compost.
Mice also appear more often if you fill the composter incorrectly. Never throw the following waste on the compost:
Tips
To prevent the ingress of mice and rats and down into the compost, you can lay out a grid mat as a base. The holes should only be large enough to allow earthworms and other microorganisms access to the compost.