Mice in My Compost Pile!!!

[AnnaNova]

so i went out to the back yard to pour some soup leftovers on the compost pile, and i open the bin and - there it is! just sitting on top of it ears, nose and tail and all...
i told my husband to go out there and see if he could get the mouse and when he got back in he said he saw 6 (!!!!!!!!) of them!
he poured some whatever on the pile to make "micicles" out of them, but i dont think that worked because we didnt find any the morning after...
what could i do? just set up some traps around? and why is this happening? and how to prevent it in the future?

[mattemma04]

I have used pellet bait to get rid of rodents. I have open/lazy compost piles and no issues....unless they come at night. Maybe turning or enclosing your compost would help. I would put out some bait close to the pile,and hopefully that will take care of them.

[Isaac'sMa]

Ack! We've been having the same problem but as far as I know it's only one. Although when there's one, there are usually two and when there are two....well....there might be six or more! No advice, just commiseration. It must be a nice warm place for them to live, right?

[MissMommyNiceNice]

I found a little hairless pile of mice nest this spring while harvesting. Honestly, though, it didn't bother me too much and I just covered them back up. We have a fairly diligent mouse eating feral cat population. It's all part of the life cycle, imho. Just b/c you keep things like bread out of it doesn't matter. Mice eat apples too. Think of all the nice mice droppings being added into your rich rich compost.

[RomanCarmelMom]

Where are you planning on using the compost? I certainly wouldn't use it in any food gardens! Mice have a bacteria in their urine that can be deadly to humans and pets. It seems that having mice live in the compost pile will cause a concentration of their urine and feces in your fertilizer. That just doesn't sound safe to me.

[AnnaNova]

thanks for your input! i havent seen them any more, so hopefully they did turn into micicles... the reason im concerned is that the pile is right behidn the house, by the house wall, so i didnt want to one day wake up to a mice infestation... i guess ill just keep my eye open for them for a now, and get some mouse traps