Selfsufficientish.com

I have a green cone and I went up there today to empty the kitchen container to find that something has tried to dig its way in underneath. I don't think it managed to get thru the plastic basket, probably disturbed by one of the cats I should think.

If it is rats - what do I do? The cats can only keep down a certain amount of vermin (I only have two), and I know that the hens, composter and green cone will all attract them, but I absoluately LOATHE rats. If anything made me quit the whole green recycling thing, it would be them.

Help!

We're all put on this earth for a reason but I also loathe rats and would engage in all sort of warfare to rid them. My wife pestered me to get a cat and sold it on the fact that they would keep vermin at bay. We now have 5(the secret ebbing power of women-always waiting-biding there time-but I digress). No it turns out they only really go after mice and recently having decimated the mice population they are now bringing back shrews(poor little shrews).
But on the rat front, they steer clear unless they are attacked, a terrier dog is better apparently.
We have big cat who brought back a rabbit but a rat he can't be bothered.

Someone on this site has pet rats!!

Mine have brought back rats on occassion, but it is mainly the smaller vermin. That and rabbits for some reason. Perhaps coz rabbits don't fight back.

Whoever it is with pet rats is more than welcome to come round and stuff a big box full of the ones round here - I dont want them.

Hi PD,
What is a green cone?
For rats, one sure destroyer is the fabulous Jack Russell terrier, mine is called Jim, he is my wee treasure and what a ratter!

Cats are pants at catching rats. Get yourself a terrier - they not only hate rats but they're brilliant at catching them.

Yeah, but you'd have to leave it out by itself wouldnt you? And at night too. A terrier I mean.

Thanks for the link Shirlz. Saves me trying to describe it. I wouldn't have thought of sending a link DUH

Thanks for the link Shirlz, interesting...

i read about a weird rat parasite

"It can change the personality of a rat so much that the rat surrenders itself to a cat, just as the parasite wanted"

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sectio ... id=4453921


its a bit messed up

like me i geuss

Could any Green Cone / Green Joanna users out there post feedback comments on what they think of them? I'd love to know if the blurb on the link is true, nearly true, damned lies etc etc. It sounds great...but is it?

a good terrier - Jack Russell or similar "bitza", has to be seen to believed with rats - a quick snap and a shake, one's flying through the air stone dead while they go for the next one!
One afternoon when we emptied two free range deep litter houses, two blokes and their terriers got over 350 rats!

if it's of any cheer, they do say if you've seen one, there'll be at least another 9!

Rats will eat their way through the plastic basket in the bottom of the standard green cone. If you buy direct from Green Cone Ltd, you can specify a wire mesh cage to go around the plastic basket.

If you get one from your local council at a subsidised price, then you don't get the wire mesh to make the cage. However, when I contacted the manufacturers, they sent me a new plastic basket and the wire mesh - free!

Details on how to stop the rats can be found on the Green Cone FAQ, but when I mouse over the link on the website I can't quite click on the FAQ link. Hopefully others will be able to get to the page.

As for the Green Cone, we've had ours since the end of last winter and so far it's working fine. We've positioned ours between two apple trees, in front of a south-facing stone wall and it gets quite warm when we get the occasional ray of sunlight. Animal fats, egg shells and the like are all breaking down well. Winter will be the real test.

Interesting, I thought a green cone was just a composter. I see I was wrong! How does it compare with a worm bin though, where the kitchen waste (except bones) turns into worm-cast compost?

Having never used a worm composter, I oculdn't say how they compare. However, the green cone is supposed to turn the waste products into fluid which oozes into the ground, fertilising the area within which it is dug in. My veggie garden is on a slpe, and the green cone is at the topmost point of the slope so that I can utilise this liquid fertiliser to its best (hopefully)

The update on this is : it turns out that my children decided they wanted to see whether the waste was really turning into liquid and seeping thru the ground, so they decided to dig down outside the bin to see. In the process, they moved the top part of the bin, as I hadn't had the foresight to use the screws provided. They used a wee trowel to dig down, found it too difficult, and quit. We have very heavy clay soil, so I can hardly blame them.