I'd be putting poison bait boxes down myself, near the compost bins.

You need to get rid of the rats... Contact your local council and they should be able to help. I'm sure you are but I have to ask, are you putting cooked food or meat waste in your compost?

There is no cooked matter or meat what so ever in there just garden vegetation and leaves so it is nice and warm for them I guess.

Definitely get rid of them, once they start breeding your will have hundreds of them in no time at all.

And be aware of the risk of Weils disease; I contracted it emptying a compost bin that had rats in. The first that I knew of them was when I had an handful of wriggling babies!

Not funny...

Seriously un-funny. The effects of contracting that can have long term implications. Fortunately my GP was on the ball.
And at the start of that day I was chuffed with the very expensive compost bin that we had been given! As a mechanic my hands are covered in cuts and scratches, so in future I will always wear latex gloves under gardening gloves when handling compost.
What's frustrating is that I was aware of it - that's why I never ever drink from a can or a bottle!

Janple, you definitely need to get those rats out! Giving the composter contents a good stirring frequently will probably get them to move out as they won't appreciate being disturbed. Then you need to reduce the numbers if you can by poisoning them, and make sure that they don't have lots of alternative homes. Under sheds and decking are both very popular refuges, so do what you can to make them rat proof.

The cuts and scratches may not have made any difference Meanie. The spirochaete that causes Weil's disease can cross unbroken skin.

I always wrap the bottom of my compost bins in chicken wire (or spare rabbit fencing) to keep rats out. The wire goes across the open bottom and up the sides. We also have a Green Joanna which is a special composter designed to break down food waste. It has a rigid plastic base with only small holes in it so that vermin can't get in.
http://www.mygreenerhome.co.uk/garden-60/compost-bins-13/green-johanna-composter-330-litres-375.html

Well, I still feel pretty silly Beattie. As I say, I was aware of it (as a result of my travel precautions in the far east). My GP indicated that it was probably contracted through the cuts, but thankfully she didn't just dismiss it as a case of flu!

the thing is if you can see them then there is a lot more .Weils desease is in the rats urine and they continuasly just dribble this wear ever they walk as well as poo when ever . then theres the damage and the fact they breed so quick . i think the wee actualy has to be wet to catch the desease . personaly i would get traps or more carefully poison as mentioned above . the council just might charge you for your rat problem so your just as well doing it yourself .

I would suggest that you get rid of the compost - either by taking to the local recycling centre where they can hot compost or binning... don't use on the garden!

I 'hate' rats we had a real problem when living in Aberdeenshire 40 years ago... totally freaked me!

Janpled, I think that your rat problem originates because your compost is too dry and 'comfortable' for the rats. Compost should not be soggy wet but also should not be dry and warm. I would get rid of this load of compost and ensure that future bins are kept moist.

sounds good to me .

I think taking the compost to the local recycling centre would involve a lot of extra handling and exposure to the organisms if they are present. Not all rats have the disease, after all. Weil's disease may be found in water which infected rats have peed in, but I don't think it survives in dry materials for long. So I think the safer course would be to keep disturbing the rats to get them out and keep them out, finish composting the contents of the bins and spread the compost as soon as possible, using gloves and wearing thick washable overalls - which you wash and line dry promptly. UV from the sun (even on cloudy days there's a reasonable amount) will sterilise any bugs that may be left on the overalls and in the compost.

it does only survive while its wet .

Living in the country side we get a lot of rats at this time of year coming in off the fields. If I got rid of my compost heaps because a rat had been in them, I would have nothing to spread on the garden. Our cats deal with most of them and the poison we put down in the tunnels we find (where other creatures cannot get at the poison) deal with them very effectively.
Found a nest of babies a few weeks ago, the spade dealt with the babies and the cats chased the mother. You are probably never more than 30 feet from a rat anywhere in mainland Britain.

Well, a resounding vote to dismiss the little blighters. The bin is fresh and relatively dry so will douse with water I think to start with. If I use poison and a cat were to eat an infected rat would it damage the cat?

Pass, no idea, Janpled, but you haven't much choice really - the risks to humans from allowing your rat population to increase unchecked is more of a priority. You are allowed to shoot rats, of course, or you can call a pest control company which uses a jack russell to root them out and catch them.

It would be a very unusual thing for a cat to eat a dead rat for a start and despite the fact that he frequently brought rats for our inspection out old sadly deceased cat never actually ate ones he caught either. Rabbits, leverets, mice, birds, yes but never the rats. Some of the ones he caught must have been poisoned ones, but he never suffered, except for abscesses from the ones which fought back.
As far as I can remember from conversations with the local Vermin Control officer when we discovered rats living under my Mobile classroom floor, the poisoned rats shun the light and die in their tunnels. Certainly the poison is passed on from rat to rat as they eat their own dead.

if your worried get the type of trap like you get for mice that kills them instantly and is more humane .

Bloody things don't work though... Poison is the way to go - sorry!

youve just got to understand what rats realy like eating is all and its not cheese lol

Looking up some info for the student with the composter project I found some advice on my favourite recycling website about rats in compost heaps.

http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/get_advice/using_your_compost_faqs/rats_have_been.html

"Rats have been inside my compost bin. Is this compost safe to use on my garden?

The compost will be fine to use, although - just as a precaution - it would be advisable to wear gloves when you're handling it. "

I've seen rats escape from traps NP they will even chew their own limbs off to escape... When we had a major problem with rats back in Aberdeenshire in the 70s it was a combination of poison and pulling them out of their tunnel with long handled tongs and himself belting them over the head... Over 50 of the damned things - scared me xxxxless - we made out young son stay in the farmhouse so he couldn't get bitten.

i dont mean humane i mean the ones that squash there head moon grower

I'm sure mouse traps are kinder than poison. The mouse's last thought is "Oh boy, a sultana!" and that's it - dead. Are rat traps as effective?

Not always so, Beattie - I've had an infestation of mice in the last couple of months, and one night, I found two babies caught in the old fashioned snap trap - one dead, one trapped by a leg and struggling madly to get away... not pleasant to deal with. And peanut butter is their favourite bait...

I have called in the Rat Catcher- (who prefers to be called an Environmental Pest Controller)- to get his expertise, I don't relish the thought of handling them myself. For an initial fee of £20 he will come out and assess the best plan of action and take suitable action.
Thanks for all your comments.
Jan

well with mice you can get the odd trapped one especialy young but you dont get that so much with rats . they do work as well as mouse ones as there bigger . there made to break there neck basicly and you dont get mice with rats so no worries there . definatly safer and less painfull than poison .the poison acts bye stopping the rodent keeping its body tempereture .

The poison acts by preventing the rat's blood clotting i.e. warfarin they just give them a huge overdose.

Not any more they don't, Moon Grower - apparently, rats and mice are largely immune to warfarin these days, so they use something else now.

Well so long as it kills the vermin I for one do not care! Sorry... it is all ver well to talk about killing rats in a humane fashion - if you've got an infestation get rid of them the best way possible!

we all should care about our fellow creatures even in death and poison is slow and dangerous to other animals .like i said rat poison makes them die of losing body heat and freezing to death .

I do care about my fellow creatures NP but and it is a big BUT traps don't always work. If we'd tried to trap the 50+ rats we caught back when we had the croft we'd never have got rid of them all. They were terrifying the goats and causing a major problem and, it sounds to me as if these rats are a major problem too.

sorry i thaught you said you dont care how you get rid of them . it sounds like its being sorted out anyway so end of subject . i used to work on a farm and nothing much is better than a good dog for a lot of rats or traps . poison is slow and cruel as far as im concerned .sorry i cant see wear it sais 50 plus rats or are a major problem in the question myself sorry . take care mg bye for now .