Students battle rodents in King's Court

Students say rats, mice infest their rooms Kings Court residents said they saw them the first week. And much to their dismay, they've been seeing them every week since. Third floor residents said they have seen not only mice, but also rats -- eight inches long without the tail. Some residents are taking the situation lightly, naming the rodents after Kings Court residential advisors. Other students, however, are worried. Wharton freshman and fourth floor resident Connie Fang said she and her roommate have caught six mice since September. "We've seen quite a few," said Fang. "At first, it was not that many -- maybe one or two. We went [to the front desk] and reported it." She said that within a few days, she and her roommate received glue traps, and soon after, caught their first mouse, which they discovered still alive, stuck to the glue. "We came into the room and we heard it squeaking," said Fang. "My roommate started screaming 'we caught the mouse, we caught the mouse!' We got our R.A. to get rid of it because it wasn't too pleasant." About a month later, Fang caught another mouse. Returning to school after Winter Break, Fang was sure the problem would be gone, but after she and her roommate both saw another mouse, she knew the battle was not over. "Two weeks into second semester, we saw one," she said. "We caught three in just that week. Then, we caught a fourth a week later." "I guess we're lucky not to have cockroaches, but it is pretty disgusting," she said. "We have a crate of food in our room and we can hear them rummaging through it all the time. All we do is move it and it scuttles away, but we can't even eat our own food." The traps that Fang and other Kings Court residents receive are glue traps, which do not kill the mice. The traps are sticky, so once the mouse gets stuck, it can not get away. College freshman and fourth floor resident Charles Tarvin said he has heard of students coming back to their room to find the trap has been used, but no mouse is in sight. "One guy came in and saw the rat's leg on the paper, but the rest of him was gone," said Tarvin. Tarvin said he has also seen large rats on his floor. Wharton freshman and second floor resident Glenn Desy was bitten by a mouse in November while he was trying to get it out of a trap. According to College sophomore and second floor resident David Toccafondi, Desy was taken to HUP to be treated. Second floor Resident Advisor Chrissie Forke said she has had no complaints on her floor, but has heard about a lot of mouse-sightings on the third and fourth floors. "They exterminate every semester, but that's for cockroaches," Forke said. Third floor R.A. Matthew Rice said he does not feel the mouse problem in Kings Court is any bigger than any other building on campus. "Anyone who tells you there are not mice in other buildings is either stupid or on drugs," Rice said. "Our problem may be slightly bigger because we've had two bulidings either torn down or opened up right beside us, so the mice wanted to be warm and came inside the closest building." Rice said he has put in one complaint on his floor and knows of one other person who put in one complaint on their floor. Rice said he knew nothing about Fang's situation. Rice said he feels everything that can be done is being done by giving out the traps.

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