How to keep ants out of a mailbox?

May 5, 2015 2:03 PM

Whenever the weather is wet, ants invade our mailbox and bring their eggs/larvae. The best solution I've found is just to keep the mailbox open, which totally works. Unfortunately, on wet days it just has to be shut for a couple of hours (like after the mail comes) before they move back in. Is there any way to keep them out of the mailbox without poisoning the whole colony or putting something messy (like baby powder) in the mailbox?
posted by that's how you get ants to Home & Garden (19 answers total)

this is a classic mailbox up on a pole? if so, then you only need to encircle your pole with poison or some natural deterrant (but most of the ones I know won't outlast the rainy days)...
posted by acm at 2:07 PM on May 5, 2015

First, you've got the be kidding me with that name.

Second, is the mailbox on a rotten post? If so, replace the post with a new pressure treated post. If not, or in addition, I'd silicone caulk all of the seams and anywhere the metal is pierced, then affix some sort of appropriate weather stripping around the inside where the door meets the body.
posted by cmoj at 2:09 PM on May 5, 2015

Ha ha, I didn't even consider my username.

Yes, it's on a regular wooden post. I don't know if it's rotten but it does have some vertical cracks and splitting.
posted by that's how you get ants at 2:20 PM on May 5, 2015

I've heard peppermint essential oil on a cotton ball will repel ants.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 2:20 PM on May 5, 2015

Lana.
Lana!
LANA!

What?!

Terro Ant Killer.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 2:34 PM on May 5, 2015

One way to check whether they live in the post or climb up it would be to do a double-stick tape ring around top of the post (there are specific ant-tape products, but reversed-duct-tape or a strong doublestick that you happen to have in the house will work, too). If they live in the post and are coming through it rather than up the outside, the tape won't affect them.
posted by aimedwander at 2:35 PM on May 5, 2015

You need something on the post that ants can't walk across. Maybe a ring of Vaseline around the post.
posted by ShooBoo at 2:37 PM on May 5, 2015

A ring of vaseline around the pole is an excellent idea.

Not so excellent idea: putting white powder in your mailbox ;p

I am giddy with delight over the eponysteria of this post.
posted by the webmistress at 2:41 PM on May 5, 2015

Try placing Terro traps about the base of it? I don't know about an outdoor mailbox, but Terro traps successfully got rid of ants in my kitchen.
posted by AppleTurnover at 2:56 PM on May 5, 2015

Get yourself some Tanglefoot. Spread some of that on your mailbox pole. And perhaps replace the rotten pole first. If it's a pitted, rotten pole, the tanglefoot won't spread evenly on it.
posted by cleverevans at 3:29 PM on May 5, 2015

Ants don't like Gold Bond Mentholated Body Powder. At least the ants that invade my bathroom whenever it rains hate it with a passion. I follow the line of ants back to where they seem to be coming in, place a bit of GBMBP there and they won't cross the stuff.
posted by zengargoyle at 4:18 PM on May 5, 2015

I don't understand why you're worried about "poisoning the entire colony". It's not like ants are an endangered species, after all. Taking this colony out would seem the easiest and most permanent solution to your problem.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:26 PM on May 5, 2015

I don't mean to be a dolt but replace the post. It's rotten. And maybe the mailbox.They like that. They don't make it rotten; it just is.

Source : owner of rotten wooden mailbox currently being ignored. Also we replaced all crappy wood on our house last year. No more ants in the house.

If you really wants temporary barrier it's dichotomous earth and/or cinnamon.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 6:37 PM on May 5, 2015

Was your rotten mailbox infested with llamas, poster above me?

Terro just came out (that I noticed, OP) with pre-baited stakes. Drive a couple into the ground near the post.
posted by tilde at 6:41 PM on May 5, 2015

Diatomaceous earth? Though they don't like being wet.
posted by kschang at 4:51 AM on May 6, 2015

Ants occasionally try out my post-mounted mailbox to see if they want to colonize it. I sprinkle in a bunch of cinnamon and they depart. Also, my mail smells tasty. Worth a try.
posted by theora55 at 11:05 AM on May 6, 2015

Cayenne pepper. They hate it.
posted by Lynsey at 2:15 PM on May 6, 2015

Ok, so, I started with a ring of doubled duct tape around the outside bottom of the post. There were less ants, but still plenty and their eggs. This tells me the post is probably rotten and infested. My next step was going to be caulking inside the mailbox but I took the path of even less resistance and just put duct tape along most of the bottom inside seams, since that's where they'd concentrate. I didn't seal it completely off since I figured it might still need to drain. Occasionally a couple of ants squeeze in around the tape but it seems like they can't get their eggs around it so they've given up colonizing. Hooray!

Long term plan is probably to replace the post and box but we are having back problems (husband) and front problems (me, 8 months pregnant) so that will probably wait for a while.
posted by that's how you get ants at 3:23 PM on May 22, 2015

Short term you can use that Terro ant killer sprinkles and/or those ant "stakes"... Just stake one or two of those into the grass near the post. Basically, drop it on the ground, align it, step on it.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Terro-Outdoor-Liquid-Ant-Stake-T1812/204661245

Save the rest for other outbreaks.
posted by kschang at 9:19 PM on May 23, 2015