Stop Snail Mail Damage Without Killing Native Species — SkimNews
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- Common garden snails introduced from Europe 120 years ago are the likely letterbox culprits, seeking refuge in humid conditions and treating mailed letters as a ready food source.
- John Stanisic said snails escaped a Chinese takeaway container overnight during preparations for a two-day Catalyst photoshoot and ate the front page of his running sheet.
- Simon Mustoe said snails ate his letter from David Attenborough and cited a BBC report announcing the closure of a Royal Mail postbox in Northumberland because they were “munching the mail.”
- Isabel Hyman said snails are important to the food web and urged mindful control of common garden snails, which have given Australia’s native species “a really bad rap.”
- Australia has about 2,500 native snail species, according to Stanisic, but native snails do not thrive in disturbed habitats, while introduced common garden snails can be considered pests.
- Snail baits are effective, according to Stanisic, but will kill native snails and should not be used where a property borders undisturbed habitat; pellets can also kill pets and snails’ natural predators.
- Copper tape creates an uncomfortable charge when snail mucus contacts the metal and can be paired with a sharp angle; sand, diatomaceous earth, coffee grinds or crushed eggshells can also deter them.
Why it matters: Mailbox owners can deter incursions with copper tape, sand and regular cleaning, but control choices carry a wider ecological cost: baits can kill native snails, part of Australia’s roughly 2,500 native species, while pellets can also harm pets. Mustoe links such poisons to collapsing blue tongue lizard populations in urban areas, and iron-based controls remain unsafe for native snails.
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