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Handling Pests in Off-Campus Housing

Handling Pests in Off-Campus Housing
5/26/2011
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Kayla Herrera

When the campus dormitories have run their course and you are ready to have a room bigger than a closet, living in off-campus housing can be an exciting experience. Be forewarned, however, that you may have to deal with pests. No, I’m not talking about rude, unkempt roommates but insects, rodents and other undomesticated animals.

As a college student, you may have never dealt with a pest on your own before. I sure hadn't...until recently. During finals week, I heard scratching in my ceiling. I ignored it but after returning from a week-long trip, the source of the scratching revealed itself. I screamed, “it” crawled into the ceiling and I covered the holes with duct tape, still not knowing what the creature was. I called my landlord but he was out of town and said he'd take care of it on Monday. That weekend, a friend and I heard the scratching again, this time from the kitchen. “There it is!” screamed my friend as I tried to chase “it” out the door. “It” jumped behind the couch then flew back into the kitchen (I had no idea that “it” could fly!). My friend held a pot so we could capture “it” but when “it” ran toward her, she panicked and dropped the pot on top of the creature, paralyzing it. “It” – what we later found out was a flying squirrel – died soon after.

So off-campus dwellers, if you hear animal noises or have a large amount of insects inside your rental unit, call your landlord immediately. It’s their responsibility to get rid of the problem for you and if he or she doesn't or refuses to help, he or she is breaking the law.

In addition to being a Scholarships.com virtual intern, Michigan Tech student Kayla Herrera is a media coordinator for the Michigan Tech Youth Programs, a writer for The Daily News in Iron Mountain, Mich., and a writer for Examiner.com. She love a tantalizing, action-packed video game and can't get enough of horror movies (Stephen King's books always have her in their grip, though she prefers the old over the new). Writing is what she has always done, and that is what she is here to do.

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