Author Topic: Critters in me out-chuckings  (Read 4153 times)

Jacomus

  • My favourite gender neutral pronoun is comrade
Critters in me out-chuckings
« on: 19 April, 2008, 11:37:40 pm »
Since the weather started to get milder, House of Trouser (now with me being the sole male occupant, but the name and spirit liveth on) often has the outside awash with assorted rubbish, torn from our bin bags by critters in search of left-overs.

Unsurprisingly I have to clear this up.

So I began thinking about what I could do to stop it happening, without harming the animals (foxes and hedgehogs have both been busted). I tried getting the girls to give their meat left overs a spray of disinfectant, but the animals were not fooled. Bloody child safe, non-tainting stuff!! Then I settled on washing up liquid.

A little squirt of neat washing up liquid on left over meat and fish has slowly taught the critters that any remains in our bin bags will be yucky, and they have pretty much stopped tearing our bags apart.  :thumbsup:

So, if you have this probelm - try a bit of washing up liquid.
"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity." Amelia Earhart

Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #1 on: 19 April, 2008, 11:59:06 pm »
Critters in your outchuckings should always be reported to your GP. 

Zoidburg

Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #2 on: 20 April, 2008, 12:09:39 am »
I too was expecting a tale of tenticles in the number twos

Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #3 on: 20 April, 2008, 10:37:35 am »
Get a bin. A plastic or steel one will do. Put bags inside bin and then use a bungee to keep the lid on.
In Canada they do this to keep the raccoons out of he rubbish. Doesn't work if a bear comes along though as th bear just wallops the bin with a paw and the lid buckles and he rips it off as we found out on holiday last year.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #4 on: 20 April, 2008, 10:54:29 am »
I don't have a problem, with no meat or fish in the rubbish.
Getting there...

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #5 on: 20 April, 2008, 11:08:05 am »
You don't get this with wheelie bins unless you have 6' tall intelligent rats.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #6 on: 20 April, 2008, 11:33:17 am »
It does make me think that there must have been a drop in the numbers of rats with the introduction of wheely bins.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #7 on: 20 April, 2008, 11:41:40 am »
I don't have a problem, with no meat or fish in the rubbish.

Us neither though I do eat meat and mrs PB enjoys seafood too.

I guess it is because we don't prepare more than we can eat.

I don't understand why so much food is thrown away.   The reports seem to indicate that up to 40% of food bought is chucked.  How come?

Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #8 on: 20 April, 2008, 11:49:11 am »
BOGOF and poor planning and also hectic lifestyles (eg buy food for next 5 days only to go to work and find out your going to be on a job in another part of the country for the next 4 days).
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #9 on: 20 April, 2008, 11:51:26 am »
BOGOF and poor planning and also hectic lifestyles (eg buy food for next 5 days only to go to work and find out your going to be on a job in another part of the country for the next 4 days).

On occasion yes, I can see that.  But so much all the time is incredible.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #10 on: 20 April, 2008, 04:04:00 pm »
If you have kids you waste quite a lot of food.  Sometimes they eat, sometimes they don't.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Jacomus

  • My favourite gender neutral pronoun is comrade
Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #11 on: 21 April, 2008, 04:50:11 pm »
No kids - but all three of us eat fish that aren't boneless, so I guess that attracts scavengers, and one housemate is Chinese and she eats a lot of meat on the bone, so always has things to chuck.
"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity." Amelia Earhart

Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #12 on: 21 April, 2008, 05:03:24 pm »
On holiday in Canada we had a bit of salmon left over from the BBQ. We had been warned about bears so we wrapped the salmon in a bag and then put the bag in an empty coffee canister and put the lid on then put that in another bag and then in the bin and bungeed the lid on the steel bin. In the morning there was a bin with a very dinted lid and an empty coffee canister on the lawn. Bears are smart and strong.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #13 on: 21 April, 2008, 08:16:21 pm »
BOGOF and poor planning and also hectic lifestyles (eg buy food for next 5 days only to go to work and find out your going to be on a job in another part of the country for the next 4 days).

My wife has a "BOGOF table" at work!

What they do is get the offers and then take them in to work with a sticker  This is also done with food that is going out of date. Everyone contributes and benefits.


Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #14 on: 21 April, 2008, 08:23:28 pm »
You don't get this with wheelie bins unless you have 6' tall intelligent rats.

You do if there's squirrels nearby - a wheelie bin is no problem to them. They knaw a squirrel-sized hole in the lid and drop in to the bin.

If the bin is full they land on the rubbish. If it's empty, there's a 2 second delay then the sound of a squirrel hitting the deck...

They are clever bu66ers - when I was a student we used to peg bits of bread on the washing line for them, and they'd run along and get it, Mission Impossible style.

Sorry, rambling off topic...
Let your mind unravel ... down that road you're travellin' ...

Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #15 on: 21 April, 2008, 08:25:34 pm »

My wife has a "BOGOF table" at work!

What they do is get the offers and then take them in to work with a sticker  This is also done with food that is going out of date. Everyone contributes and benefits.



What a simple, fantastic idea. I'd love to try it at my office, but I suspect it would never work as the place is just too big and impersonal, and my immediate team is too small.

Re: Critters in me out-chuckings
« Reply #16 on: 23 April, 2008, 09:59:17 am »
If our kids don't eat stuff on day one, it gets tupperwared and either we all end up eating a different meal on day 3 or day 4 (leftover nights!) or they eat it for lunch or dinner earlier in the week.
My wife and I both come from households where there were never any leftovers thrown out.
I can honestly say that our bin contains no left over food at all.