Composting with Mice and Snakes Around

I have been composting for a while. In fact, I composted long before I had a garden but this summer my composting has stopped because of mice and snakes. Right now, my composting set-up consists of three rubber bins with lids. It's not great but I all I knew at the time. But this spring, I was horrified to find a mouse in one of the bins and then a few weeks later, a snake right close to one of the bins. These sightings made me nervous to keep putting my food waste out and I have been throwing it away, which I don't like doing.

So, I am looking for a new solution that takes into account the mice and snakes nearby. For context, we live on a 3/4 piece of land that is located in the middle of a forest. About a third of our property is wild woodlands and even the garden and lawn have large trees. There is a lot of green matter to use for compost (weeded plants, grass clippings and pruned trees) as well as lots of vegetable waste because I cook a lot of vegetables. I find that the bins are pretty small for the amount that we consume but I don't want to have something to the pests. Bears are also a factor, although our big Pyrenees dog scares them away. As mentioned, I also don't want the dog to get into anything.

I would love to hear your input on my situation. Thank you so much!

My perspective:

I would worry about bears and compost. Bears defend their food sources, once found, and never forget, and teach their young.

Snakes are friends! At least around here, and I suspect in your area too. We have garter snakes, non-venimous, eaters of slugs and bugs and pests that would destroy my garden. They don't give a darn about your compost; they are hunting the prey that is attracted to it. We have a 3-footer now; used to be a 2-footer years ago. It's cool to see him warming himself in the morning sun on our terracing stones. He's practically family!

Mice are hit or miss when it comes to potential threats. You need to identify the species! Meadow voles are harmless enough until they get around your fruit trees; but they would never climb into a compost bin. That suggests a deer mouse, scrounging for food or possibly scoping out winter quarters. Deer mice in and around buildings are trouble (stink, hantavirus, destructive chewing), and I whack them with no mercy. In a composter, I wouldn't care too much, but I would be ready to thin the herd if it were close to a building.

Pardon my rambling response; it's late. I hope this has some value.

Mice help my compost piles. I don't really understand the nature of your concern. And the snakes keep them from getting out of hand.

I would be more concerned about the bears.

Shari said, "although our big Pyrenees dog scares them away

That might not always be the case.

I have read plenty of threads here on the forum about bears and compost.

My suggestion for mice and snakes is to get a cat.

We have our first cat because her mother came to visit and left her with us.  Before that event, we had a mice and snake problem...

I would agree with the others, the snake/mouse encounter is nothing that should bother you in the least. It is just nature! Compost as you would otherwise.


However, if you do not want the wildlife IN the bins with the compost there are options.

Do you have any hardware cloth nearby?



This video might give you some inspiration to vermin-proof your compost bins.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:My perspective:

I would worry about bears and compost. Bears defend their food sources, once found, and never forget, and teach their young.

Snakes are friends! At least around here, and I suspect in your area too. We have garter snakes, non-venimous, eaters of slugs and bugs and pests that would destroy my garden. They don't give a darn about your compost; they are hunting the prey that is attracted to it. We have a 3-footer now; used to be a 2-footer years ago. It's cool to see him warming himself in the morning sun on our terracing stones. He's practically family!

Mice are hit or miss when it comes to potential threats. You need to identify the species! Meadow voles are harmless enough until they get around your fruit trees; but they would never climb into a compost bin. That suggests a deer mouse, scrounging for food or possibly scoping out winter quarters. Deer mice in and around buildings are trouble (stink, hantavirus, destructive chewing), and I whack them with no mercy. In a composter, I wouldn't care too much, but I would be ready to thin the herd if it were close to a building.

Pardon my rambling response; it's late. I hope this has some value.

Douglas, thank you. Yes, I am aware of the bears and that is why I would prefer to have my compost closed without any potential smell. When we first moved to the area, I asked in several gardening groups if people in the area had problems with bears in the compost and everyone said they had had no issues. Nevertheless, I don't feel comfortable having anything that will smell and attract bears. I am looking for a solution beyond the bins I use but not sure where to go from there. And our dog, the Great Pyr, is a very active watchdog and has scared bears away from our property two times. The only issue would be when she is inside the house during the night.

Regarding the mice, I am not sure which kind they are and I guess need to learn to tell the difference between different types of mice. It bothered me to have them right in the compost because that compost goes into the soil for the garden, and that seems unclean. The snakes bothered me because I have a fear of them, although I am getting better. I don't want to see a snake every time I go to put something in the compost. From reading more posts on this site, I did see that they are very nervous animals, so I feel pretty good about them staying out of my way, as long as I am in the garden often (which I am.)

Christopher Weeks wrote:Mice help my compost piles. I don't really understand the nature of your concern. And the snakes keep them from getting out of hand.

Hi Christopher, I had thought that mice would make compost piles unclean? I have read that a lot here on permies that mice are great for the compost but that confuses me because they seem unclean. I really don't want to see them when I go to put things in the compost but also don't understand how they are such a great thing outside in the compost but such a danger when they are in the house.

Anne Miller wrote:I would be more concerned about the bears.

Shari said, "although our big Pyrenees dog scares them away

That might not always be the case.

I have read plenty of threads here on the forum about bears and compost.

My suggestion for mice and snakes is to get a cat.

We have our first cat because her mother came to visit and left her with us.  Before that event, we had a mice and snake problem...

Hi Anne! Thank you so much for your reply!  Regarding the bears and compost, our big dog really does scare everything away, except at night when we force her to come inside so she doesn't keep the neighbours awake with her barking. I have never had any issues with bears in the compost and we've been here fourteen years. I am careful, though, to always cover the compost, just in case.

Timothy Norton wrote:I would agree with the others, the snake/mouse encounter is nothing that should bother you in the least. It is just nature! Compost as you would otherwise.


However, if you do not want the wildlife IN the bins with the compost there are options.

Do you have any hardware cloth nearby?

This video might give you some inspiration to vermin-proof your compost bins.

Timothy, thank you for the video. I will check it out!

Anne Miller wrote:I would be more concerned about the bears.

My suggestion for mice and snakes is to get a cat.

We have our first cat because her mother came to visit and left her with us.  Before that event, we had a mice and snake problem...

Anne, we do have two cats but they are getting geratric and don't go outside as much as they used to. We had one cat that was very brave and went outside all of the time but we lost her a few years ago and afterwards, the other cats stayed inside more. She was the brave one that led them to go and adventure. It's hard to say if another cat is in our future because my husband did develop a cat allergy. I love cats but it's hard on him.

Shari Clark wrote:Hi Christopher, I had thought that mice would make compost piles unclean? I have read that a lot here on permies that mice are great for the compost but that confuses me because they seem unclean. I really don't want to see them when I go to put things in the compost but also don't understand how they are such a great thing outside in the compost but such a danger when they are in the house.

I’m not really taking your meaning when you say unclean. I suppose you must mean they carry pathogenic microbes, and I guess I’ve heard of that being a problem where there are a lot of them, but I don’t really sweat it. There are rodents in houses. Cats kill the ones they catch. The population stays low and having them around doesn’t seem to be much of a problem. I know they live in our attic where the cats can’t go, but there’s no food up there, so again, the population stays low. As for the compost, it’s a giant pile of dirt and microbes. What is unclean compost?

They tunnel in the warm, rich pile, building burrows, finding food scraps, hunting grubs, etc. this mixes and aerates for me and they poop (and die) adding even more good stuff for my garden. They’re providing great ecological services!

There could be too many, theoretically, but snakes and hawks and cats keep them in check.

ETA: Also, just as a note, I don't really know all the differences between mice and shrews and voles and moles and whatever...I'm using "mice" as shorthand for any and all small rodents.