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Odd ObservationsValley of the Sun
Home›Odd Observations›Why Do Sun City Folks Put Rocks On Mailboxes?

Why Do Sun City Folks Put Rocks On Mailboxes?

By Andrea Aker
April 15, 2010
7237
2

Excerpt from “Valley 101: A Slightly Skewed Guide to Living in Arizona,” a collection of Clay Thompson’s columns for The Arizona Republic. (Originally published December 10, 2000.)

Q: We recently moved here from Pittsburgh, and we have an extremely important question about Sun City West: Why do residents put stones on their mailboxes?

A: We have heard of stones on roofs and stones on lawns, but we have to admit that stones on mailboxes was a new one to us. Of course, here at Valley 101, almost anything is a new one to us.

We considered examining this phenomenon firsthand, but the Valley 101 mobile research lab was in the shop, so we set hand to telephone and called the Sun CityWest Visitors and Information Center, reasoning that we were, in a sense, visiting and in need of some information.

And we quickly had an answer, thanks to the exceedingly helpful Kay Johns, who works there.

This is why, according to Ms. Johns, people in Sun CityWest put rocks on their mailboxes:

“To keep the birds off.”

Apparently, the theory is that if you create an uneven surface on your mailbox, it keeps birds from landing there and pooping thereupon. And there is general agreement, at least in Sun City West, that birds pooping on your mailbox is not a good thing. Ms. Johns herself does not have rocks on her mailbox, but she did volunteer that she carries a rubber snake with her whenever she plays golf.

Why, you may well ask, does Ms. Johns carry a rubber snake with her when she plays golf?

For the same reason that people put rocks on their mailboxes.

When she gets out of her golf cart to take another whack, she leaves the rubber snake on the seat to keep birds from landing there and pooping thereupon, which could give all newmeaning to the golfing term “birdie.”

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  2. Geronimo’s Face In the Rocks
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  4. How Folks Kept Cool in Old Arizona
  5. Roof Rocks Help Cool Hot House
Tagssun city

2 comments

  1. Jerry Peek 19 April, 2013 at 11:44 Reply

    The Tucson Mailbox Art blog is currently posting photos of broken mailboxes piled on bricks. The January 2nd entry, titled “This Mailbox Rocks” (http://mailboxes.tucsonart.info/2013/01/this-mailbox-rocks-2811-east-geneva.html) shows a mailbox on a pile of rocks.

    I haven’t seen any rocks on top of Tucson mailboxes, though. I’ll keep an eye out.

  2. FromThereToHere 14 May, 2014 at 11:37 Reply

    I used to keep an inflatable snake in my pool to keep the birds from pooping in it. Eventually the snake “died” (it cracked & deflated, Arizona sun does that to you). Now the birds are pooping again. Thanks for the reminder – I need to get a new snake!

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