How would you dispose of these bodies?

[Emotionalsupporthamster]

Can you please help settle this debate in our family?

My mum’s cat seems to be single handedly controlling the rabbit population in her neck of the woods. This week he’s brought no less than five dead rabbits into her house, and she mentioned that she had put these all in her green (garden waste) bin. I said that I’m not sure you should do that, but she doesn’t see why not. I couldn’t say exactly why - maybe that it doesn’t seem very sanitary for composting, with all the parasites they get and all that, though it is organic matter. I thought maybe bag them up and put in the general bin (goes to incineration rather than landfill). My DH says lob them over the fence, but then the cat may well just find them and drag them in again.

WWYD with all these rabbit carcasses?

Bag them and put them in the food waste bin? Ours get collected weekly

That’s bloody disgusting. Don’t want rancid rabbit parts in my compost, thanks.

Double bag, black bin as you would a chicken carcass.

Well obviously don't put them in the garden waste bin. Garden waste = plant materials. Rabbits (or any animal for that matter) are not plants.

Getting rid of the cat will solve the problem.

I would put them outside - in my garden the foxes would have them the same day, and the crows and magpies would clear up any scraps.

You're right about the garden waste bin. It's for plant matter not meat.
I'd put them in the food bin or if she lives in the country just leave them at the end of the garden for the kites/ buzzards.

Pie crust?

We put any dead wildlife in the food bin, it's no different really to a chicken

Leave them for foxes, badgers, stoats, crows and other assorted carrion feeders.

We used to lob them into the woods for scavengers when our cats brought them in. I wouldn’t put them in the compost bin, wild rabbits are absolutely riddled with tapeworms and stick fleas - as will your mum’s cat be, tell her to get the heavy duty meds in!

Food bin or bonfire.

Sorry should have said, she doesn’t get a food bin collection where she is (rural). DH’s suggestion of lobbing them over the fence back into the field might be the best bet then.

She’ll definitely not be getting rid of the cat!

I will start getting suspicious if she starts bringing unidentified meat pies round though.

We are told not to put any meat into our food bin. Only vegetable/plant matter.
When our cats bring us a present we bag it and put it in the black bin.

I would bag them in the food waste bags and put them in the food bin. Where I am the food bin is actually combined with the garden refuse, only requirement being that food waste must be bagged in green compostable bags or wrapped in newspaper.
So, where I live your mum is not wrong.

Get some carpet beetles and they will strip each carcass of all the flesh and you will be just left with the cleaned bones.

Bag the bones up and give them to nephews, grand-children etc. as impressive sort of 'AIRFIX kits" for a Christmas or birthday.

N.B. include a tube of glue.

Keep the bloody cat inside and stop it terrorising the local wildlife?

@ComtesseDeSpair absolutely, she’s pretty on it with the flea and worming stuff, especially after having a major flea infestation in the house a couple of years ago, she had to get pest control in and she was covered with bites. Gross!

Try a bell on a cat collar - it works very well for ours and the presents arrive very rarely now

It depends on your bin collection. We have a food waste collection which is hot composted, a garden waste collection which is 'normally' composted, and general waste (landfill).
We have a lot of mouse cracasses to deal with, and I thought they should go in with food waste, being essentially raw meat. But I checked with the council and they said to put in the general waste.

If her green waste isn't hot composted (ie - if the council instruction is NOT to put food in there), then I'd go for general waste.

Ugh cats.

Oh, maybe they should go in the black bin then.

There is always one 'getting rid of the cat' 🙄

Also my last dog killed a cat which was in our garden so now I try lots of different ways to let wildlife know there are predators around

If your DM lives rurally with other wildlife like foxes then I’d agree with your DH. Or it a bell on the collar as suggested.

I'd just put them in the general non-recyclable bin that goes to landfill/incineration

Bag the bones up and give them to nephews, grand-children etc. as impressive sort of 'AIRFIX kits" for a Christmas or birthday.

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles my kids would actually love this. And more sustainable than all the plastic shite she brings round for them!