<p>Have any of you heard from your children that there are mice in the dorms?
Swarthmore college has this problem.</p>
<p>I used to see huge rats in some of the buildings at Columbia. (Back in the 80s) At least mice are cute.</p>
<p>Rodents are disease carriers.
And how do you like droppings on beds?</p>
<p>There were a lot of them around the area at MIT. We, by which I mean my hall, didn't have a problem with them...we were a cat hall. I only ever remember seeing one mouse in the dorm, on a different hall, and a cat was going after it at the time.</p>
<p>Oh, not at all.^^ (I once lived in a NYC apt where I felt a roach on my face at night, it was horrible.) I am sympathetic. We have mice in our house and believe me we've been trying for months to get rid of them. They dance around every type of trap we leave for them. It's not that easy to get rid of mice once they've discovered you, and I would imagine in a dorm there are plenty of crumbs and left out food for them to eat.</p>
<p>This has apparently been an issue at Loyola Maryland, per the linked article:
Loyola</a> sets the trap - News</p>
<p>Venerable old buildings with lots of history and character
+ winter
+ teenagers with food
- cats
= mice</p>
<p>A new dorm at my daughter's college opened last month and they have field mice on the lower floors. But I guess that is to be expected for a while.</p>
<p>None that she knows of in her dorm and it is 200 years old.</p>
<p>Added to say there are cats all over the campus, but not inside that I know of.</p>
<p>Sounds like some cats are needed to get a handle on the problem!</p>
<p>Years ago, in a former urban neighborhood, I "researched" a similar problem and discovered that, in my very diverse (ethnically, culturally, economically) neighborhood, there were really only two types of people: people with cats, and people with mice.</p>
<p>We were in the latter group, and were unhappy with it (as was our dog). Traps and poison didn't work, and gave us the willies with a 10-month-old crawling around. So we joined the former group. Problem solved for over a decade. My daughter's first real word was "cat!", which she applied like a geiger-counter to all sorts of animals other than our dog. Other dogs were "cat". Squirrels were "cat cat cat". Cats were "catcatcatCATCATCAT!"</p>
<p>Unfortunately, my wife proved extremely allergic to feline dander (as would likely be the case with x% of the students in a dorm). It got worse over the years. When our cat died, we didn't replace him. Helloooooo, little friends!</p>
<p>Some people are allergic to cats. What else can be done?</p>
<p>S1 lived in a house next to campus. I helped him move out after graduation. The place was filthy. I asked when it had been last vacuumed, and S said the vacuum cleaner had broken in the fall. I was able to sweep with a broom large bagfuls of crud. When cleaning his room, I found a dead mouse, and "exclaimed." S1 said happily, "That makes 17!"</p>
<p>This is my "neat" kid. Or was.</p>
<p>You can buy these high-pitched plug-in devices -- you don't hear them but it keeps the mice away and there's no messy or poisonous bait scattered around. Get one for your daughter's room and for the bathroom and if there's an outlet in the main hallway, I'd get one for that, too. You probably can find them online -- I know that a few years ago The Sharper Image carried them.</p>
<p>Another remedy that I've had good luck with is peppermint oil. Soak cotton balls in it and stick them in corners, splash a little around the floor in general. Apparently, it keeps mice at bay. I don't know if this is legitimate or not, but it's kept a previously-problematic old London flat mouse-free through most of the winter, so I'm inclined to believe it! I've also had good luck with the beepy plug-ins (not only did Sharper Image carry them, they also put them on really good sale ;)), but again...might have been luck alone.</p>
<p>Our cat is good for those who are allergic to dander (ragdoll...very low energy), but useless for catching anything. Ah, well.</p>
<p>OP: As I wrote in your other thread, mice might be problematic, as might roaches, ants, or scorpions. Much of the issue is regional, much of it is dependent on individual buildings. Unless a problem is truly widespread and persistent, then the more important info is probably "What does a school do in the event of a pest problem?" Go from there.</p>
<p>Right - as has been said above, this is what happens, unfortunately. We're not being unsympathetic; we're just aware that it's a reality (best expressed by the mathematical equation above :) ). Schools take responsible measures to cope; college students take . . . college-kid-measures to sabotage the effort. Not on purpose, but because their focus is elsewhere, and their focus involves a lot of pizza, popcorn, etc.</p>
<p>Among the better things you can do for your kid is send him or her to school with metal containers for <em>all</em> food substances. Those big, round tins popcorn is often shipped in can hold boxes of crackers, microwave popcorn, etc; smaller tins can hold cocoa, sugar, and so on. If you make it easier for your kids to store stuff safely, they're more likely to do it. Mice can eat right through plastic storage containers. </p>
<p>Emphasize that the more often they clean up, the less often they'll be critter-hosts. This is pretty much a lost cause but always worth trying.</p>
<p>Suggest that they let the campus cat in now and then. Of course, if they're allergic, you're out of luck. Try the high-pitched-noise machines. </p>
<p>A good attitude helps, too. We adopted a new motto: Better mice than lice! :D</p>
<p>We've found mouse poop directly in front of those ultrasonic noise makers. Unfortunately my sister-in-law is deathly allergic to cats, (she's ended up in the hospital just visiting houses with cats), so it's not an option for us.</p>
<p>If you don't have a cat, or if you have a lazy cat (I had one that wouldn't bother to get up for a mouse), use traps. The sticky ones are the least obnoxious and the most reliable. If you can't stand the fact that there's a live mouse in there, struggling, put them in a plastic bag and put the bag in the freezer, which will humane kill the mouse.</p>
<p>After you use traps, go find the holes that are letting the mice in. The easiest way is to stand in the dark with a flashlight and have someone outside look for the flashes of light. Remember a mouse can get through a dime-size hole. Steel wool stuffed in the holes will keep them from getting through.</p>
<p>Another possibility for killing them is to borrow a terrier--many small terriers also kill mice. (My standard poodle stalks and kills them outside; I expect she'd do the same inside. But she's unusual for a poodle.)</p>
<p>They could use the old spring loaded traps. We used to bait them with peanut butter and place the trap in a lunch bag sideways on the floor. When we heard "that" sound, we would close the bag up and thow the whole thing away. Never saw the dead mouse. Yes, we threw away perfectly good traps that could have been re used .</p>
<p>CMBmom: you must be more coordinated than I am. I never once have managed to set a spring trap without thwacking my finger in it.</p>
<p>omg don't kill the miceeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>