Students spot mice, rats in campus form

While Walt Disney may have cashed in on the popular cartoon characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse, residents in Van Pelt College House find nothing funny about furry creatures scurrying around their rooms. And the Office of Residential Living is taking student complaints of mice and other rodents in the residence very seriously. Engineering sophomore Ava Dadabhoy said she has seen several mice in her second floor Van Pelt room for over a semester. When she returned from winter break, Dadabhoy said, she found another unwelcome guest – a rat. The rodent had a "humped back" and was "a little bigger than my palm," she said. "We put down that we saw a pregnant mouse," Dadabhoy added, explaining how she described her problem to Residential Living. Assistant Director of Residential Maintenance Phillip Ganther said yesterday that his office has received several complaints about mice, including one chronic problem. So, Wednesday, an exterminator was sent to the dormitory to put baits in the basement, trash areas and rooms of students that have complained, Ganther said. Engineering sophomore Robert Borrego said he found a mouse in his first floor room last semester. Residential maintenance came a day later and put down traps. He said he has not seen any mice since. Borrego added, however, that other residents he has spoken with have seen rodents in their dormitory rooms. "Every floor has at least one complaint," he said. The building has four floors. Another student, Wharton sophomore Ignacio Calles, said he also saw a mouse in his room on two occasions last semester. Michael Polgar, an administrative fellow in Van Pelt, said he was skeptical that the rodent in question in Dadabhoy's case was a rat. Ganther agreed, saying that when his department gets a complaint about a rat, someone is sent the next day to check for evidence. He added that an exterminator sent to Dadabhoy's room found no evidence of a rat in the room. Polgar said mice and rats usually do not live in the same area. Still, Dadabhoy insists it was not a mouse. She said she spoke to another exterminator who told her if the rodent was as she described, it was probably a rat. Ganther said an inspection of Van Pelt will continue because it is "disturbing" for students to have mice in their rooms. Polgar said, though, that students do not need to worry because mice are not dangerous. "There is no indication of a health hazard or food being eaten," he added. "Nobody has been bit." Dadabhoy is not taking any chances, however. She has bought her own traps for her room.