I would never compost a pigeon. Yuck. Rat with wings. However, Rabbits are yummy, so why not eat the dead bunny? Maybe catch and cook? I'm heading to the grow them and eat them mentality. Rabbit stew is on my menu this late winter. As for composting animals/meat, it works if you can tumble as the poster above mentioned. However I did meat in my first pile, chicken and beef, and it definitly added a 'nasty factor' to the smell even when it was turned 3 times in as many weeks. I almost puked on the 2nd turning. I now just toss the meats into the garbage, and considering moving to a non-beef diet anyway. Too many chemicals, and can't afford the good 'organic' meats anyway at Whole Foods. Now for steam. A 'cool' pile can still give off plenty of steam when turned in a cool morning. However if the plume of steam was as you mentioned, my guess is the pile was active, hot and indeed not 'finished'. Like wine, aged compost is preferred in most cases. Partial composted materials work fine in my veggie garden for mulching. I use shredded stump material, free from neighbors yards that have the tree removed. I get the wood to burn (heat the house), and also the mulch to layer on the garden. I also use shredded/mulched leaves/grass bagged and picked up at neighbors (they are fine people indeed) for my compost piles and gardens. If compost is not finished, and it is winter gardening you want, wait for a month or so until it matures a little more. If however you are winter resting your garden (and I'm assuming veggies here, for I'm a veggie gardener mostly) for spring planting, just put down the hot stuff and work it into the soil immediately (don't spread it around and let the nitrogen get lost due to exposure to the sun/wind/rain. I bought my first materials for my veggie bed (sept 05) from the city of Plano TX, and it was nicely finished and matured compost mostly made from leaves, shredded trees/limbs and grass clippings. I wouldn't recommend this to others due to the nature of not knowing the contents of a commercial or public compost. Who knows what folks spray on leaves, grasses and so forth. If you are going organic like I am, making your own compost is best, and ensure your source of materials is non-chemically treated as I do. I get all my materials from the 10 or so neighbors around me in town, and I know them all, and all of them do not put chemicals down on their lawns or spray their trees. I'm blessed and I hope you are too regarding having aware neighbors. Pudgy

Instead of compost- have you tried wood chips? In Ventura / Thousand oaks, the City ALWAYS maintained a huge pile of FREE woodchips for residents at the City Hall. Located in the Parking lot with a sign marking it all free. I wish a City here in Orange County would adopt the use / free distribution of wood chips as it really helps to save water. I've been asking the City of Villa Park, but no luck so far. Am going to try one of the local tree trim companies and see if they would be willing to provide me with free wood chips - saving them a run to the dump. If anyone knows of a City or site in OC offering free wood chips - love to hear! Thanks!

Hello - I'm a short stone's throw from you. Although I've never checked it out myself, I've heard that the city of Pittsburgh has composted leaves/etc. that are available. Someone else told me that I shouldn't use it because you don't know what is in it. Usually I use bags of cow manure or mushroom manure from Busy Beaver for small areas. Otherwise, I've gotten a one yard delivery of mushroom manure from a local supplier for about $25 plus delivery. The mushroom manure smelled faintly when it was delivered but the smell goes away quickly. The bags of manure are decomposed and don't smell. If you are doing a front yard garden, the bags would be very easy and convenient to use - you could even use a combination of cow, mushroom, peat moss, and top soil in bags. What kind of garden are you working on? Is it sunny or shade? Perennials? Karen

Our city has Waste Management that picks up lawn refuse, chipping branches, etc. as they go. This is all piled up at the county landfill, and anyone can go pick it up free for the loading. Some Saturdays, they even have a frontloader. It can be full of weed seeds, but as long as you use a good mulch, this is a minimal problem, considering all the benefits. Sometimes it's well aged and sometimes not, but either way it's alot better than nothing.