Maibox baseball problem and worse

[DrRod]

My solution to most every problem: steer manure. You can buy it at most garden or home improvement stores. Its pasturized [no pun intended] but still smells bad. If you create a fertilizer buffer zone, it might keep the vandals out of bat's reach. Of course, if they are really determined, they might switch to rocks but it might send them off to other pursuits.

 

[250C]

25 years ago I had this problem and happen to see the teen who had repetedly bashed mine and several others. Long story short the judge who heard the case found him guilty, sentenced him to cutting grass around mailboxes, putting up mailboxes etc for 6 months. That kid has grown up still lives there and from what I can tell is a pretty good citizen. I always voted for that judge until he retired.

 

[AchingBack]

How about wrapping your mailbox in high density foam? Seems to me, baseball bats would just bounce off: no harm, no foul, Athletic Mats, Nets and Protective Pads Listing

 

[PA hayseed]

my box has been crushed several times, not by problematic youth, but by problematic snowplow drivers. I moved the box further off the road and mounted it to a 4x4 in concrete. Got one year under the belt now.

My postal guy said that there is no rule regarding how far off the road a mailbox must be. He said the rules are how high off the ground and is it safe to pull over. I figured that in winter they wouldn't mind being a little further off the roadway. I talk to the delivery people periodically and they have no complaints. I may move it a little further back, but have to get rid of a junky pine tree first.

Good luck to you.

As far as the police being too busy, that is BS. talk to your local politicians and tell them you vote (if you do), sometimes that will get the ball rolling. I wouldn't expect the police to pull surveillance, but they should at least take a police report each time it occurs. In the bigger picture, if the locals have to keep filling out reports for you mailbox they will get PO'd and may start looking at the people doing it to avoid doing more paperwork. More importantly, if these peoples actions escalate you will have a record of their activities (very helpful later on).

 

[MikeD74T]

I had a problem with state plow operator winging snow into my mailbox to knock it off the post. Went to the shop foreman and told him I was going to video the plow in action, mail it to the highway commissioner, & the foreman could explain whether his drivers were malicious, incompetent, or under the influence!! That problem went away. MikeD74T

 

[forgeblast]

Lets say you fill a painted zip lock bag to match your mailbox. Fill it with fox urine, or some thing else that is a liquid and smells. When they hit the mailbox the bag will rupture.

 

[jonyyuma]

Lets say you fill a painted zip lock bag to match your mailbox. Fill it with fox urine, or some thing else that is a liquid and smells. When they hit the mailbox the bag will rupture.

This one sounds the best, and less liable to bring a suit?

 

[955Lincoln]

Lots of good ideas here. While reading this thread I came up with one of my own so it's kind of off the cuff and might have some flaws. Assuming this is the same person or group of people, if I thought my picture or tag # had been taken I would want to stay far away and not chance any more trouble.

One of our products we build at work has a very bright strobe attatched to it. I just looked the price up and it costs $12. You could place the strobe up in a tree or somewhere out of reach and a 9 volt battery would last over a year I would guess because it would only flash when the box takes a hit.

The most difficult part of this idea is running a wire from your box to the strobe. You could even use an IR beam or wireless with some extra cost and complexity. Somewhere on the box or post (even at ground level might work) have a vibration actuated switch which will flash the strobe when the box is disturbed.

It might even be better if the strobe is totally hidden in case they go looking for the camera. Or on the flip side you could let them find the strobe and make them wonder where the camera is. Mind games :laughing:. All they would know is that their picture was taken but from where? Is the camera in the strobe? Is there a camera pointed at the vehicle licence plate if they are in one, they just wouldn't know. Normally it's the driver of the vehicle that panics the most because of the identification factor, especially if it's his/her parents car . Heck, I might even be tempted to knock on your door and offer money or a shiny new mail box to make this problem go away.