The art of getting mail from my bug infested mailbox, and other tales

I'm starting to get quite irritated by the amount of bugs I'm finding in my home. 

Yesterday, it rained very heavily. To get away from the cold and soggy ground, a worm entered my house. I scooped it up with a piece of paper and let it out my front door, only to spot another two right under the step. I've found other dead ones around before. 

Another time, I found a fat slug. It was seriously big. How did it get in?! Ian took it to the garden. 

^ Yup, that was how gross it was. A bird might find it very juicy though. *squirms* ^

We see big black cockroaches every now and then too. Not often. But hey, who ever wants cockroaches? We've spotted and killed them maybe three times in the past year. Mortine is my friend. 

Next, spiders. I actually don't mind them as much. I guess that's because they don't really get in the way and are not that big, unlike cockroaches which you can "feel" when you squash or pick them up. I guess they don't feel as dirty as the other bugs. We usually leave the long legged spiders alone. If we see other types, we tend to get rid of them. 

Finally, here is the story of how I gather mail from my bug infested mailbox. Summer sees less of them, probably because they are all soaking up the sun. But during the other seasons, whoa. 

Snails are the main occupant. They chew my mail. Once in awhile, the mailbox has baby cockroaches too. We tried putting coffee beans which worked for maybe a week. Now, I just leave one or two junk mail for the snails to chew on and hope they don't start on the fresh mail. It is also why we don't bring catalogues (supermarkets and real estate newsletters etc) into the house. Their many pages make for good hidey holes. 

^ Yes, mail which has spent just a few hours in the box can end up looking like that. ^

When I take in the mail, I just poke them and wait a second before actually picking them up. The idea is to let any cockroaches run away first. I don't care as much about the snails because they are too slow to get to me. 

So there you go. My tale of living in a bugsy landed property, and an old one at that (read: more holes and hidey holes). Though, in the place I lived in during my Uni days, I didn't spot much bugs. I only recall a big spider I met in the shower. 

Anyway. While I do like living here, the bugs will be one reason I am glad I might be moving to an apartment later this year. Here's to less-bugs days!