My compost bin had a surprise guest at the school garden

So I was showing my students our new compost setup behind the cafeteria last Tuesday, and we opened the lid to find a full family of raccoons staring back at us (they'd clearly been enjoying the fruit scraps). We all jumped, the raccoons scattered, and I spent the next hour with the custodian, Mr. Jenkins, securing the latch with a carabiner. Anyone have a better animal-proofing trick for a three-bin system in a city schoolyard?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_william20d ago

Been there with the raccoon raids at our community garden. Carabiners help, but those little bandits are smart and have strong paws. You need to add weight they can't move. Try cinder blocks on top of each lid, the solid kind with two holes. They're cheap from any hardware store and too heavy for a raccoon to shove off. Have the kids decorate them with outdoor paint to make it a fun project. What kind of latch system are your bins using right now?

nora_park20d ago

Wait, you have kids painting cinder blocks? That's genius.

ericj4520d ago

Cinder blocks on the lid is a solid plan. In my experience, you need to make sure the blocks are centered over the latch point, not just placed anywhere on top. That way the weight is working directly against where they try to pry.