Compost pile had an unexpected guest

An orange cat flew out of the compost bin and ran away. I had picked up a piece of paper that had blown into the yard. I was too lazy to go inside and find a trash can so I casually tossed the paper into the compost bin. I think the cat was as startled as I was.

I have seen that orange cat several times in the last few weeks. It is healthy and obviously well fed. Last week it claimed the arm of our porch swing as its preferred place to watch the world go by. I have watched it stalk a small squirrel and was rooting for it to, shall we say, eliminate it. The squirrel lives on, thanks to a handy tree.

There are many felines that use our yard as a shortcut to wherever they are going. This is fine. They don’t hurt anything and are entertaining to watch. But taking a nap in the compost bin is a first.

In years past, one or more groundhogs dug a substantial den under the compost bin, causing the structure to have a serious tilt. I fill up the den entrance with stray branches and debris every year. The groundhogs seem to have moved on. Maybe.

It never occurred to me that an orange cat would choose a bed of semi-decomposed plant life as the place to take a nap. Then, again, I didn’t expect the evil squirrels to make nests in the porch soffits, but they did. I am afraid to set up a ladder on the porch to see if the nests are in use. If they are, the rodents might get upset at being disturbed and bite my face off.

 Adding a cat to a compost bin is not recommended. The purpose of a compost bin is to hurry up Mother Nature. Everything will eventually decompose. Setting up a designated place to put yard waste and adding stuff in a particular order can cause this to happen more quickly. The standard recipe layers green stuff (grass clippings, wilted flowers, etc.), brown stuff (dried leaves, twigs etc.) kitchen waste (crushed egg shells, coffee grounds with the filters, etc.) but not meat or walnut shells. Meat can attract raccoons and walnuts contain a chemical that repels other plants. The actual proportions can be found on the internet or at your closest extension office.

Dousing the pile with water occasionally will speed the process along. It should be moist, not bone dry nor soaking wet. When house plants or hanging baskets die, their remains can also be added. Chopping stuff up into small pieces is recommended. Stirring the mixture will also help the process along. Or you can do what I do, namely toss everything into a pile and let it sit.

There are many designs for compost bins. There is the super simple toss everything in a pile and walk away. There are plans for bins made out of wire, wooden skids, plastic and almost anything else that can be used as building material. There are round ones, square ones, and probably many other shapes. They all will work.

The only thing missing is that two bins are better than one. If there are two, or more, then you can fill up one while the other one marinates. Otherwise, one tends to keep adding to the top. The finished compost at the bottom just keeps on breaking down instead of being used to enrich the garden and flowerbeds.

I am not sure what effect an orange cat will have on the compost, if any. I do know that I will check for inhabitants before I toss anything else into the bin.