While walking on campus, one sees a variety of wildlife.  It is an attractive feature of the campus setting. Some of the most common animals are chipmunks and squirrels.

It may be cute to see the little critters scurrying across the pathways, but it is not fun seeing them in students’ residence halls.

Last week, students found not only a chipmunk in Hickory Hall but also one bat each in Maple and Willow residence halls. A mole also was found in Highland 2 town house.

With a month of the fall semester past, students might think vermin issues would be resolved by now.

To help prevent the unwelcome visitors, maintenance workers suggest students clean up their messes, particularly popcorn, and keep all food put away properly.

With workers giving the students preventative suggestions, what can the staff themselves do to help with the issue at hand?

Chipmunks are attracted by food, yes, but two bats and a mole are not coming in for popcorn.

The bats were found in two residence halls, flying around. The mole was found in a town house ceiling.

A maintenance worker said the mole might have entered the building over the summer when renovations were being done.

If that was the case, maintenance workers should have found the vermin while doing an inspection after finishing renovations.

It is an unacceptable excuse that the animals might have entered during the summer being left there for a student to find.

Not only could it be dangerous if the vermin is carrying a disease but it also creates an annoyance.

Students pay from $2,670 to $3,575 per semester, roughly $700 to $900 a month, for campus housing.  With the area’s average monthly rental rates from $425 to $554, it would not be unreasonable to expect your housing to be vermin-free as students pay a premium rate.

​Maintenance leaders need to come up with more preventative plans so students are not busy dealing with the stress of wildlife lurking in their ceilings or hallways.