Rats! Construction causes pest problem

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A rat infestation forced the closure of the cafeteria inside the Federal Reserve Bank in Uptown.

"Normally, it’s very clean, very nice environment," said customer Capt. Chuck Atkins of Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.

The cafeteria is located on East Trade Street, just across the street from police headquarters.

"We had some employees, late night employees that did see a couple of rats," said Atkins.

By Friday morning, a Mecklenburg County Environmental Health inspector had checked out the police department.

"They said there was no problem at all," Adkins added. "Everything looked fine."

Mike Gross of The Pest Control Authority has worked the Uptown area for 16 years.

"When they were building the light rail here (in Uptown) they had dug up. Anytime you got any type of digging going on, it’s going to disturb rodent populations," said Gross.

It’s a possible explanation for the cafeteria rat problem. There’s construction going on at the site.

"Their environment is getting disturbed and they are looking for a new place to live," Gross added.

The Pest Control Authority has some 150 rat-bait stations throughout Uptown. The Federal Reserve Bank is not one of their clients.

"They (rats) like that claustrophobic feeling," said Gross. "They like tight areas."

As more construction moves Uptown, rats might be squeezed out of their boroughs.

However, Dennis Salmen with the Mecklenburg County environmental health division said there’s "no critical" health risk because of the rat population in Uptown Charlotte.

Over the last 12 months, only five rat complaints have been filed with the health department in the 28202 zip code area.

So far this year, 216 rat complaints were filed county-wide.

A spokesperson for the Federal Reserve Bank didn’t return our call by Friday evening.