Whether they’re foreshadowing a possession or heralding the arrival of the anti-Christ, insect hordes are usually a sign that something bad is going to happen in a horror movie. But what do you do if you find a real life one in your mailbox?

That was the situation I faced when I went to grab my after work a few weeks ago. Everything seemed normal when I reached in, but when I pulled out my mail I realized it was covered in ants, and a clump of what I assume were either eggs or larve. I dropped the handful of envelopes on the pavement, and looked up to see an army of small ants franticly scurrying over every inch of the mailbox, the post, the surrounding ground, and spilling onto the street.

I picked up my mail and retreated to the driveway, where I had to bang each envelope on the cement to get the ants off, and opened each one, shaking ants out of the contents. Retrieving some Raid from my garage, I doused the inside of the mailbox, killing my unwanted guests. Unfortunaly, that still leave the exterior and the ground crawling with pests. I abandoned the effort in favor of dinner and some Google research.

It turns out, the easiest way to get rid of an ant colony that has overtaken your mailbox is to simply leave the door open, and walk away. The ants will feel insecure and exposed, and move on to a new home. The key is to do this as soon as possible after your mail is delivered. That will give you about 24 hours before your postal worker returns to deliver more mail, and closes it back up.