Talkback: Insects on compost heaps - Page 2

My neighbour has a ten-year old walnut tree in her garden, about a foot away from a wall with a conservation order on it. Must it be destroyed or could it possibly be transplanted?

just checking i have accass brb

sorry i couldnt see what i was typing in last post i had a wrong theme on. had to sign up to post a LOL. i didnt get an answer to my quest but i think i realised there is no answer yet, my question was (i think) how to remove fauna from compost,less the eggs of course as they are completely unwilling to walk. reason- compost tea to extract nutrients, im not short on chitin lol and pointless death is just that. ants are cool ppl unless you are growing crops that you think your loosing to ants or greenfly, otherwise cool rats breaks my heart, you have no soul, rats are people too and arnt half as numerous as you fear, if your that serious (you who hates rats) foxes are 50 times the rat and 200 times more common and active. rats no more bite than bees sting people,please-grow up. as for the walnut i guess it lost,it would have been a simple extraction if you were an archeologist, i would have left it but then my wall and my sence of time is different to yours, by the time it does the damage you "imagine" you should have moved on 5 times(in a perfect world of course) i put value on my buddleja but common as it is, thats because im crossing it, all garden plants are in the wrong place but-cest la vie. to post 20 that would be a compost pile id love to see,rich like that would be some unique ecosystem. if you were takin the piss im sorry i saw it, you are sick mate, thats not funny, you should see someone, i hope im just paronoid. question anyway if anyone did try before, how to remove all insect life from compost.

Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance. Quotation of Plato

My two lovely bins are going really well and still contain thousands of worms, however today I was turning the compost and was horrified to see a rat in one of the bins! I have never put cooked food or meat in them so really didn't think there was any risk. Not quite sure how to deal with this situation so would be glad of advice.

Reply to Wendy We regularly have mice in our compost bins, and I accept that it is because we throw all manner of things in that we shouldn't. I can live with them. But, because we live in a city, we also get rats too. If I see a rat I immediately stop emptying food of any sort into that bin, and switch to the other. It is only a few metres away, so not the best eradication technique. The cats occasionally get one. The only thing I can suggest is take the contents out, then re-pack, with lots of plant material in their to dilute it. Of course, you have to face the prospect that you might come face to face with the beast. I well remember my first job working for the small supermarket in my home town, after school. I was charged with cleaning out the bin shed one evening and lifted a metal dustbin lid to find three rats the size of Jack Russells under it. Euch.

Thanks Richard, I appreciate your advice and comments. On reflection I had already decided to stop putting fresh kitchen waste in the offending bin. The little visitor seems to have departed (for now anyway). I wasn't sure what would happen to all my lovely worms if I emptied the contents out in the frosty cold, so save that as a last resort. Isn't this a lovely way to swap info and experiences!

Hello, it's wonderful to hear somebody being so positive about the compost bin wildlife. I'm a Compost Guru (a volunteer scheme in Lancashire, we encourage people to do home composting). I have found a sudden and dramatic increase in the number of toads in the polytunnel since introducing fertility trenches and 2 plastic bins. I suspect they are eating creatures or perhaps hiding in the damp bits.