Post Office Handles Mail That Chirps, Clucks And Coos
Serenaded by the murmuring sounds of cooing pigeons, customers
looked on with expressions of bewilderment.  But for postal
workers, this little-known part of their job is routine.  "We
ship a lot of birds," said Postmaster Kathleen Almendaraz. "Like
pheasants, pigeons and baby chicks. Lots of baby chicks come
through our office. People order them through the Internet and
catalogues. There's one person in town who mails a lot of
pheasants. When people ask him how they survive, he said he puts
an apple inside the container."  But Almendaraz warned that you
can't just mail any live animal. There are restrictions that
dictate which living creatures can legally be mailed, and how
they must be handled.  "They have to be shipped by Express Mail
(overnight) in approved containers. The post office will ship
adult fowl and small, harmless, cold-blooded animals that do not
require food or water -- with the exception of snakes and
turtles," Almendaraz said.  "Other