Is your mailbox under attack from Mother nature?

I reside way out in the “Boondocks”, far from the madding crowds of town or city life and am therefore subjected to the quirky habits of the natural world.

During these past few months, I’ve been at my wits end trying to solve the mystery behind all my mail being randomly chewed up. :confused:

At first I thought it might be birds, but on further investigation and a lot of patient waiting I have only recently discovered the culprits. You will be surprised as I was………
It was none other than the common garden snail.
Some of my friends suggested I put coffee grounds in the box, but in truth; being an avid amateur gardener; the answer was right under my nose. By using slug and snail bait, it has totally solved the problem.

Yes years ago this started happening to us and took a while to work out what was doing the damage.

Could be worse - I had a friend who had those massive slugs invading her home (something to do with concrete walls and dampness apparently) and she would wake up hearing them rasping the surface off her leather shoes in the wardrobe at night time [:0][xx(][}]:eek:

My mail was regularly eaten by snails when I lived in Auckland! Up here we have to put up with birds shredding it if we don't get to it before they decide it will make good nesting material. We generally have to move out of our own mail box at this time of year and share the neighbour's instead.

Back in the old days when I was at school[] a snail in the letterbox ate through my School Cert results![:0] The track neatly crossed the grades I got [}] grrr.

Hawkspur;302429 wrote: Back in the old days when I was at school[] a snail in the letterbox ate through my School Cert results![:0] The track neatly crossed the grades I got [}] grrr.

Was that a good or a bad thing? [}]

In spring we need to tape the letter slot of our box closed to stop the swallows building nests in it. The postie took to carrying a roll of tape round last spring to apply to other letterboxes as well.

tigger;302433 wrote: Was that a good or a bad thing? [}]

Haha
I wish it had eaten just one in particular

No - not snail problems but SPIDERS yes. Every once in a while I actually go down and clean the mail box as I am feeling so sorry for the postie. Anyone else do this?

it doesn't stay there long enough to get eaten here

But, yep, I know the sort of damage you are talking about

Birds use ours every year so we have built another box:)

Same so I pop rivited an icecream container lid over the slot. The mail man is not best please but I think hes over it now, the nice bottle of wine I gave him at christmas helped.

Well at least it is mother nature not the hoons playing letterbox baseball. I really didn't know you could break a plastic rural delivery box (standard red and black type) as well as they did. Metal ones you can dent and flatten but I thought plastic would be stronger or bounce better

My poor neighbours had their tin one smashed and then when they got plastic it got burnt... will admit it did look funny, this half melted THING!
We had ours smashed frequently.. I was pleased when I would find blood splatter all over it, showed it had bitten back.
Of course the reason that it is done, is cos the louts see it as a phallic symbol and they are challenged by the competition.!

LOL Beedee!

ravenseyes;302513 wrote: Well at least it is mother nature not the hoons playing letterbox baseball. I really didn't know you could break a plastic rural delivery box (standard red and black type) as well as they did. Metal ones you can dent and flatten but I thought plastic would be stronger or bounce better

HOW DARE THEY!...especially being Canterbury colours