Problem solver

Pests in compost

Pests come for one reason: accessible food. Solve the access and you solve the pest.

Rats, mice, and raccoons: they want meat, dairy, grease, and easy-to-reach scraps. Keep those materials out entirely, bury fresh food a foot deep in the center, and cap the pile with browns. For persistent visitors, use an enclosed bin or tumbler, or line an open bin with hardware cloth, including underneath, since rats tunnel. Stirring the pile regularly also makes it a lousy place to nest.

Flies and maggots: they lay eggs on exposed food. They will not hurt the compost, but they are unpleasant. Bury scraps, cover with browns, and the cycle breaks in days. Black soldier fly larvae, fat gray-white grubs, are actually helpful decomposers, so if you can tolerate them, they are doing work.

Fruit flies and gnats: usually a kitchen container problem. Keep a lid on your scrap bucket and empty it more often.

Ants: the pile is too dry. Moisten it and turn it.

A balanced, covered, properly moist pile is just not attractive to wildlife. Every pest problem traces back to exposed food, missing cover, or the wrong materials.

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