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Soil, Compost & Mulch

composting near wildlife?

16 years ago

hi, i've finally moved to a place where i can have a garden and would like to start a compost pile. while i understand the basics, i live near a wooded area with a lot of deer, rabbits, gophers and turkey vultures. i'm planning a fence around my garden, and am wondering if i start a compost pile if it will attract more unwanted wildlife to my yard. if it does, how would i deter them?

thanks,

engk916

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Comments (5)

grayentropy
16 years ago
My compost pile abuts a forest and I have tons of wildlife. Despite the rumors on the web, they are not (well not always) attracted to my compost and my grains for the lawn. If you are extremely insect, avian or mammal phobic you may want to assist help in maintaining a compost bin.

I deal with deer, moles, rabbits, birds (including owls and hawks), frogs, salamanders, hornets, bees, ticks, gnats, etc. All part of the natural order. If my bin is disturbed overnight, I just bury the goodies deeper and try and add some type of human scent to the pile if conveniently available.
louisianagal
16 years ago
I agree with above. I'm not familiar with gophers but the others do not normally eat old rotted stuff. The rabbits usually look for tender new growth for example. If there is a convenient corn cob, perhaps a deer will eat that. I don't think it will be a big problem. While sometimes wildlife can muck up a garden area (can you say armadillo? which we had in Louisiana), more often they are a joy to welcome into our gardens.
Laurie
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nutmeghill
16 years ago
I also have my compost piles next to a forest, with lots of wildlife.

To deal with the critters, I build a slightly larger compost pile, roughly 5*6*6 and bury the kitchen scraps way down into the middle area of the pile. I do not add any meat, fat or dairy.

It's also my idea of turning the pile too, I figure I get some air into it every time I add some more greens.

It seems to work for me, because the pile is left undisturbed but I should add my trio of cats are also on guard duty just in case...:-)

Happy composting

PJ
Kimmsr
16 years ago
The deer, rabbits, and gophers will not be very interested in your compost, but other critters such as raccoons, skunks, opossums, mice may well be depending on what is in the compost and how readily available it is. A containment system may offer some means of discouragment if that is necssary.
boxer8
16 years ago
We've got deer, bear, elk, fox,skunk, and coyotes around here and nothing ever messed with the compost pile. Some mice moved in last year for awhile and then disappeared. I always wondered where they moved to until one day I open the lid to the bin and found a three foot snake.

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