New member, 1st post, great thread. I have been battling rats for many years now and I always end up back here one way or another so I finally joined :) I feel for each and every one of you that has a mouse/rat problem. We are in a large city and we had rats in our old 1960s garage that was just storing stuff and an old project 4x4. Then we tore down and built new, no problems with rats for a couple years until I built a roofed outdoor storage area around 2 sides of the garage. With tires, truck parts, 2x4s rubbermaid totes it turned into a rats den. I started off with victor metal spring traps which were effective for a while but now all they do is act as a plate and are always empty with the bait gone. Upgraded to the plastic jaws ones, I really like these because there is a much better no touch factor when getting rid of carcass and rebaiting is alot easier and safer. However, these have also turned into the second entree and they are licked dry as well. Seems the only rats I have caught in the last little while were rats who were scurrying along the wall and walked over it lol. Now, Dec 2013 is the next upgrade, 2 electric rat zappers from amazon have just been set out 2 days ago. I sprinkles some assorted nuts and beans around to give them a free taste and convince them everything is safe. :/ crappy thing is, its so cold and the little buggers are off camped in someplace warm and I hope its not my attic (Fingers crossed its not my attic!!) Oh btw, we are changing out the old black compost bin that sits on the ground to a 55 gallon plastic drum DIY tumbling bin.Search google for it and theres many DIY tutorials. Here is a link that might be useful: Amazon rat zappers $32 each This post was edited by Metrogardener on Mon, Dec 9, 13 at 12:59

I have several used Little Hotties Hand Warmers. Please, no lecture on 'going green', wearing gloves or using a hot water bottle. I care for dying patients and the importance of warm hands when touching someone is crucial. Carrying one of these in my pocket for a quick hand warm up has worked well. The ingredients in one small hand warmer is iron powder, water, salt, activated charcoal and vermiculite. As most of the ingredients would be safe, I wondered primarily about the iron powder and that little bit of salt and if they would be safe additions for compost.

I can't tell you how many ribbons, half-rotted rags, and pieces of plastic I've taken out of the compost piles over my lifetime, simply because someone was too lazy to make sure that what went into the compost bucket was really compostable! You can include weeds, mulch, leaves (green or dry), food waste paper, cardboard, used napkins & paper towels, cotton fabric, etc. Even meat & dairy if you cover it well & do it in moderation. I just make sure my bins have sturdy lids on them like another palate, since that's what I make them from, and then animals can't get into the pile. Bones will separate and be easy to take out of the finished compost. Eventually, they WILL add nutrients to the soil too. Basically, things that stink (especially if left in the heat) are greens. These include food products, manure (at varying degrees of rot), fish pieces, grass clippings, and even urine (a whole separate discussion). Things that you might use as a mulch are "browns". This includes dried leaves, sawdust, straw, woodchips, etc. If you have any questions, just post them here. The group on here is pretty smart about these things! :)

I am going to agree with bpgreen, there is too little salt to make any difference. Even if I were in Utah I wouldn't worry about it. Look at all the people on this site who talk about using seaweed to make compost, they are dealing with thousands of times the salt you are talking about and seem to ge by just fine. As a technical note by "salt" you are refering to soduium salt. Sodium is bad in that it is toxic. There are many other salts such as potassium sulfate, ammonium nitrate etc that are sold as fertilizers and supply nutrients to plants. But too much of a good thing can be trouble and that is what happens with too much fertilizer, the plants bet "burned."