Wrigley Field's $575 million renovation project is turning out to be something of a headache. It's already fallen behind schedule and won't be finished before the start of the 2015 season.

That's in addition to the noise, traffic congestion and dust of any construction project. Of course, all of this seems trivial in light of the new problems facing the area around Wrigley Field:

The neighborhood has been hit with a plague of rats.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the rat population around Wrigley Field has shot up significantly since construction began. While no one's saying the construction is definitely causing rat uptick, it does seem very likely that the two are related.

“The rats have been running rampant,” said one neighborhood resident to the Tribune. "I'm not kidding you. There are people in the alley and there are still rats running around and it’s daylight."

Residents are throwing heaping supplies of rat poison toward the problem, and the rats are gobbling it up -- but that hasn't put the population into decline. Private exterminators have also been called in, but the problem seems so widespread that treating one home doesn't figure to do much damage.

No word on whether the thriving rat community in Chicago was involved in the deplorable 2011 food safety violations that led to three Wrigley Field concessions stands getting shut down. Once again: No clear connection, but it does make for a convenient narrative.

Apparently, a Cubs spokesman said the team hasn't yet received any rat-related complaints.

That's about to change.

100 Years Of Wrigley Field: Al Capone, Ronald Reagan, Ferris Bueller And More

Capturing The Ambience Of Baseball

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

St. Petersburg, July 13

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

St. Petersburg, July 13

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

St. Petersburg, July 13

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

St. Petersburg, July 13

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

St. Petersburg, July 13

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

St. Petersburg, July 13

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

St. Petersburg, July 13

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

Pittsburgh, July 11

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

Boston July 9

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

Boston July 9

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

Boston, July 9

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

Boston, July 9

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

Pittsburgh, July 11

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

Pittsburgh, July 11

 

Photographer Ray Whitehouse's MLB Project

Pittsburgh, July 11

 

Additional Information

For more work by this photographer, check out RayWhitehouse.com and AmericanBaseballJournal.com. To learn more about his project, read this feature on ThePostGame.com.

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