People have noticed that there is something more in their mailboxes than just junk mail and bills. Some have been finding dryer sheets. But instead of asking their mailman why, they have been making all sorts of bold claims like their houses are being marked by gangs or worse. But it turns out some mail carriers are putting them in mailboxes on purpose.
“Letter Carrier here.
We’re almost to the month of May which means nice weather, hanging out outside, school closing for the summer, and the return of those dastardly devils: Yellowjackets and Wasps.
I’m sure you’ve noticed. But just in case you haven’t, this time of the year wasps and Yellowjackets (especially Yellowjackets) like to make nests inside of mailboxes. In a lot of places this time of the year, it’s just beginning to warm up outside, but it’s still fairly cold at night. So mailboxes provide nice, easy shelter for them.
I can’t tell you how many times, especially during this part of the year, where I’ve opened up a box to see a little nest with 3-5 Yellowjackets just chillin. If I’m really unlucky, they will have made their nest at the very back of the box so I wind up sticking my hand in not knowing they are there. We all know how temperamental these little douchebags are and merely existing in their presence is enough to piss them off. Last year alone I was stung 10 times on 10 separate occasions.
Getting to my point. We’ve found that they hate scented dryer sheets. If we encounter a box that is a problem for nests, we’ll often put one in there and it does the trick.”
Apparently, they should be giving out a warning to some homeowners as their imaginations went wild over dryer sheets. But this seems like a good way to deter insects. Now if there was only something we could put in our mailboxes to stop the junk mail.