So my compost bin. I drilled some small holes to get air in the sides and bottom. But somehow developed into these much larger holes! Did a rodent or squirrel do this? It’s only been a week since trying this method. Not sure how tf an animal did this. Like it’s hard plastic..
by Human_Trash_6167
27 Comments
Rat. They have very hard teeth.
If they got a hold of a drill, definitely. Racoons are good with power tools.
That looks pretty symmetrical. Although I did have a rat gnaw something similar to get into my composter
It’s a rat. I had one do that but wrapped the bin in hardware cloth and have had no issues since
I saw an opossum with a cordless power drill a few years ago, buy I seriously doubt they have access to hole bits.
Rats definitely chew through plastic bins. They make holes in all the thick plastic garbage cans in my area. I had a rodent proof container for birdseed and rats chewed through that. They will work all the way around in a circle like that because it is most efficient.
I’d have a hard time drawing a circle that perfect.
Well done, rodent!
Rats or other rodents can definitely chew through plastic, especially once you were kind enough to give them a starter hole they could get their teeth on. If you’d left it intact, they would have a hard time gripping and chewing anywhere. They will almost certainly chew through anything you try to seal the holes with, especially because they now know there’s goodies in there.
I had a rat chew into a hardwood (very hard) shed. I heard a kind of gnawing sound near the roof of the shed one day, but I was in denial that it was indeed a rat. Some time later I was reaching for something on a high shelf inside the shed and a rat went down my collar and out my sleeve. They sure as hell can chew through plastic. I lined the plastic bin with steel mesh. The holes in the mesh were too small for them to squeeze through. Really small. Mesh on the bottom kept them from tunneling in. I had had previous experience of their tunneling into a bin – saved them needing to chew their way in to feast on the scraps and keep warm in winter.
An animal with a drill
Are you saying that the animal created a hole in the plastic? Or the dirty stain and the claw marks on the ground? It looks like those are fabricated air holes, and the dirt around the bottom hole is from raccoon, possum, rat etc nosing into it maybe even trying to climb into it. You can see the disturbance the soil at the foot of the can.
I have had voles make similar holes, when I removed the (earth minded) bin the mother vole ran away with 5 baby voles in tow
I might try to get a single use BBQ sheet, cut it and then attach it to the hole somehow. That way there is still ventilation but should stop any more gnawing teeth
It was probably a rat that made that hole bigger. I’ve seen holes in recycling bins and trashcans that were made by rats.
Those are the holes you drilled for aeration.
Edit: period
A rat could easily do that.
Yes. The hole is surprisingly round, but if you look close the edges are jagged. Looks like rodents chewed through it. I’ve had squirrels do similar to an even thicker plastic shroud that was meant to let them from climbing a pole that a bird feeder was mounted on.
That’s been chewed on by mice.
I’ve seen mice and voles chew perfect circles, if you didn’t drill that large a hole, I’d say that’s definitely what happened, they are capable of such work.
Yeah, I bet you could teach a monkey to use a drill.
ya, mouse and rats if it s any attractive food inside. I transformed my empty water in storage for rice husk, and they did same hole. I m sure coz they nesting inside 🙂
I’ve had issues with squirrels chewing holes out of those tough garbage totes the city has for the collection trucks so my guess is yes.
From experience, you need many, many more holes.
I’m an animal
Rats my guy. Rats.
The rodent did you a favor. You need a LOT more air flow to get compost rather than stinky, sludgy anaerobic rot. Put holes like all the way around, about 6 inches apart.
That spider is looking suspicious.