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Rats plaguing New York post offices
29/12/2011
One of New York’s busiest post offices has seen a rat infestation destroy many presents and packages passing through the building during the Christmas period.
The US Postal Service (USPS) has acknowledged that their sorting office in Midtown Manhattan has a problem with rats, which has seen packages delivered to recipients with visible signs of gnawing.
A New York Times report into the problem quoted postal service spokeswoman, Maureen Marion, who stated that the vermin are able to smell the contents of packages, which are more likely to contain edible treats at Christmas time.
“The little animals can smell the chocolate and goodies,” she said. “At Midtown they’ve been very good at putting things in cabinets to keep them away from nibbles, but this time of year they just have more packages than they do have space to accommodate them.”
An anonymous worker from inside the postal service said that rats and mice were commonly seen in the basements of the Manhattan sorting offices.
“They do have a problem with rats here,” the worker said. “I’ve seen one, downstairs on the work floor. It was big.”
As a result of the report the USPS has changed its usual visitation by an exterminator from every two weeks to once a week.
