Compost And Critters

[GoDawgs]

While I was out of town last week, Pickles added a fourth compartment to Compost Row. It's the one on the left end.



Right now the working pile is second from the left and it has settled down from the last turning. I'll not be adding any more to it but I have started a new one in Bin #3, the one to the right of the working pile. The plan is that the next time I turn the working pile it will go into Bin #1 (far left) and the new one will get turned into #2.

Right now Bin #4 contains some excess material that's getting added to the pile being built but we've noticed that something is sleeping in it at night. There are definite body shaped dents in it.



Pickles set up her game cam to see what it 's sleeping there (deer or possums?) but unfortunately the flash didn't work because all the night pics were black. Day pics were OK. She'll be checking the manual to see what the problem is. It's an old camera and there's no screen on it. You have to remove the card and check it on the computer. Any hints of the possible problem from the peanut gallery?

[bower]

That's a great compost setup.
If it was rats or squirrels, there'd be holes and burrows. I guess sleeping on top is just taking advantage of the extra warmth?
Hope you get the camera working.

[habitat-gardener]

Almost every time I open my Biostack bin at the community garden, I see a small mouse running in circles on top. I don't put kitchen waste in it, but stray tomatoes and eggplants have made their way in. Probably it's mostly a warm spot to nest. The water has been off at the garden (to prevent wasted water from people who "forget" to turn off their irrigation in the winter), so I uncover the bins when rain is forecast. This Biostack has the larger openings in the sides. I put hardware cloth under all my bins to prevent burrowing from underground.

There are roaming cats in the neighborhood, so I have to make sure my garden soil is never uncovered. For new plantings, I use nursery flats to cover any bare soil, or straw. In previous years, I have found a cat nestled under the row cover on chilly mornings.

[GoDawgs]

The game cam is working at night now but nothing at the compost bin triggered it yesterday. It was not set out last night due to the cold weather coming in. That can wait for the 60's-70's they say are coming later this week!

The compost pile is made up of leaves, grass clippings, kitchen veggie scraps (including egg shells), leaves trimmed off garden veggies and old potting soil from pots whose plants have gone away. I can't use any garden soil in the pile as it would spread the nematodes to it.

If critters investigate the pile it's ok with me as they just stir it up.

[bower]

My winter compost is like a water cooler for all the critters to pick at. Hares, squirrels... yes I've seen fox tracks there too, so it's not a great place for rodents to nest in plain view. Birds - they actually appreciate the eggshells in nesting season. So I'm happy to have plenty in the compost, they will have no trouble to find a bit.
https://www.audubon.org/news/give-nesti ... -eggshells

[MissS]

I wonder what animal is using it for a bed? It could be almost anything. While it's out in the open and exposed to danger, it provides a nice warm bed that is soft and comfortable to rest on. It will be interesting to see what shows up on your cam.

[JRinPA]

At home I find shrews in the compost when turning in the spring. At the comm garden there may be voles at times. And lots of garter snakes in the spring.

Deer got into the comm garden this past week with the snow. I had some cabbage that should have been picked before the cold...they ate that down right through the agribon. Ate all the turnip tops and grubbed some up. Ate off everyone's cover crop tops. But...I didn't see any evidence of them bedding on the compost piles...

[ddsack]

Those are beautiful compost bins, great set up!

Did you figure out the problem with no night pictures on the game camera? This happened to me too, I and thought it was just low batteries for the flash but never got around to replacing them so did not yet rule that out. Camera worked perfectly for lots of night shots the previous year, but got tucked away unused for a long time and now I can't find it!