There are several tips that you should follow when renting a skip bin if you live in an area which is home to a lot of wildlife. Continue reading if you wish to find out what these tips are.

Lay a piece of wire mesh over the top of your bin instead of requesting a lidded bin

People who find themselves in this situation will often ask the rubbish removal company that they rent their skip bins from for bins that come with lids, as they believe that the lids will keep the local wildlife out of these containers. However, it would be wiser to ask for a bin without a lid and to then simply lay a large piece of wire mesh over the top of it.

There are many reasons why this is a better idea. Firstly, provided it is tightly woven, the mesh should be just as effective at keeping insects, reptiles and animals out of your bin. However, unlike a bin lid, which can be heavy and hard to manoeuvre, this wire mesh will be very light and easy to move aside each time you need to throw more rubbish into this container. This is a point worth keeping in mind if you will be clearing out a lot of rubbish over the course of a few days, as having to lift up a hefty bin lid dozens of times could become very tiresome.

Secondly, if a wild animal does succeed in sneaking into the bin (whilst, for example, the wire mesh is off the top of it and you are distracted), the mesh will make it easier for you to get this animal out of the bin without getting attacked or accidentally harming them. Because you can see through the mesh, you should be able to spot them in the bin before you move the mesh and put more rubbish into it. This will give you a chance to contact your local animal control centre and have them safely remove this animal.

Conversely, if the bin had a lid, you wouldn't be able to spot any animals inside of it from a safe distance, as the lid would prevent you from looking inside the bin before you put any rubbish into it. As such, if there were a wild animal in it, you might end up frightening it by lifting up the lid (in which case it could attack you) or you could end up accidentally hurting it by throwing heavy rubbish on top of it.

Check for signs of wildlife just before the bin is collected

Shortly before the refuse removal company is due to collect your full skip bin, you should check for signs of wildlife inside of it. The safest way to do this is to gently rattle the contents of the skip bin with some type of long-handled item, like a telescopic sweeping brush or mop (so that you do not have to get too close to the bin when doing this). This movement should be enough to stir any sleeping creature in the bin and encourage them to leave.

Doing this prior to getting the skip bin picked up will reduce the risk of any wildlife in the bin attacking the employees from the refuse removal business when they lift up this container, and it will also reduce the likelihood of any animals that have crawled into the bin being thrown into the rubbish truck and being injured as a result of this.

Contact a skip bin company to learn more.