Critter in my compost bin!! What to do?

[razz]

My neighbour told me that she was getting a hole next to her compost bin which is close to mine on the other side of the fence. She kept lifting the soil that mounded up to another part of her garden.
I think it has moved into my compost bin instead. Of course, I thanked my neighbour for her donation lol.

It is churning up the soil inside the compost bin into a large mound. I think the hole into my bin is underground and coming from her side of the fence.

Any ideas on what might discourage this critter? Moth balls? I don't want to pollute the soil.

What might it be? It is a large mound in my bin so unless we have huge voles or they are very active, i doubt if a little vole could create that much of a pile.

[CathyA]

Oh, PLEASE don't use mothballs. They would make your compost toxic too! I'm not sure how large the mound you have is.......if it's huge, it could be a woodchuck......but I'm thinking more of something like a chipmunk. Could it be a mole's airhole?
No offense, but I don't think it's any big deal. It's helping churn up your compost! :) But.......one thing you might do is put those plastic pinwheels around your compost. When the wind blows, they can send a vibration down into the ground, and that might deter the animal. But try to tolerate it, unless it is hurting you or damaging something.......and even then, be kind/flexible/patient.

[Birdie]

If you add the correct amounts of carbon and green and water and turn regularly, your compost bin should heat up enough to discourage any pests. Otherwise, it is a pest magnet.

[nswef]

Sounds like a groundhog. The young are out looking for new homes now here- one was scoping out the basement steps woodpile! I haven't seen it, no dirt there, but am sure he/she has found a friendly compost pile! We have an on going discussion here on how to get rid of them. We tend to trap then release far away, but I'm pretty sure that is illegal. I've put hardware cloth around the lower shed and the front porch- both places that were previously explored. The big shed in the garden is the "grandma's home" and we haven't put the hardware cloth around it because we are never sure how many are in there.

[razz]

Further research has indicated that lots of water will discourage these guys. As it has been droughty conditions locally since early May, I have not been watering the compost or keeping as wet this year. Will have to start wetting it down. I find it hard to make the proper mixture of compost with just one person's kitchen waste. Will see how the water dose works.
Thanks for the input. I was very concerned about using the moth balls but that was suggested by a pest control company a month ago for controlling the skunks under a friend's garden shed. It worked!

[CathyA]

Razz.......chemicals will ALWAYS be a pest control company's answer to anything. :(
Even moth balls under a shed might kill anything that eats the dead skunk......and it will kill those things that eat the skunk, and on and on.
There are always safer alternatives. (I have a friend who researched how to remove them and relocate them herself! Just no sudden moves)....
Chemicals should always be the very, very last resort. Then you still have to decide if they are worth the various risks.

[SteveinMN]

We have mice in our compost bin. I've seen them. But we also have snakes. Which eat the mice. So I don't worry about it much.

If the critter is rodent-related, you might try some drops of mint essential oil where they could be coming in. Mice/rats/etc. don't like mint and essential oil is pretty strong.