An Associated Press article titled “Eek! Rats Giving RI Statehouse Staffers a Scare” discusses how staffers are dealing with a rodent problem at Rhode Island’s Statehouse.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Sue Stenhouse, who handles emergency preparedness for Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri, displays cartoon images of rats that were given to her by co-workers, in her office at the Statehouse, in Providence, R.I., Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. Stenhouse said that after she spotted a rat jumping on her chair early Thursday evening, she shot rubber bands and wielded a perfume bottle at the intruder until it left.

Sue Stenhouse spends her days figuring out how Rhode Island officials should calmly deal with disaster. But when a rat scurried through her office, her natural response was to jump on a chair, snap it with rubber bands and threaten to spritz it with Obsession.

Staffers normally concerned as of late with exterminating the state's financial crisis are finding themselves distracted by the four-legged pests that popped up last week in two offices. An exterminator inspected the building Monday after the rodents dodged several traps left for them over the weekend.

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Source: Associated Press