Rodents on West Campus may be scurrying for a new shelter after the first area-wide pest control effort in recent history enters its final stage next week, West Campus Area Director John Piga said Wednesday.

Workers from Ecolab, a cleaning and sanitation company contracted by Boston University, will be searching Claflin Hall rooms on Thursday and plugging any holes they find that could lead to passageways for rodents, Piga said. Room searches in Rich and Sleeper halls were completed Wednesday, he said.

After numerous complaints of mouse sightings in rooms first semester, West Campus officials decided to have Ecolab investigate the approximately 900 rooms in the three dormitories, Piga said. Workers are specifically targeting gaps around heating pipes and holes in closets and walls, according to a memo passed out to West Campus residents on Jan. 26. Piga said the entire process will be completed by Feb. 10.

The last thing Piga said he wants is for students to be uncomfortable with their living situations. He said he is confident the search will end the mouse problem. Efforts to respond to complaints in the past were dealt with on a case-by-case basis, leaving other areas untouched.

“This is an effort to address the entire building as opposed to specific instances,” he said.

Some students said they have not had any mouse problems and either hardly noticed the room checks or did not know they were happening. College of Arts and Sciences freshman Michael Bear, who lives in Rich Hall, said the process has been “pretty discreet.”

“They were in and out in about a minute,” he said. “They looked under the bottom drawer of the desk and at pipes under the desk.”

Sleeper Hall resident Claudia Ornelas, a College of General Studies freshman, also said the checks were not invasive – she was in class during the process and her things were “in order” when she returned.

“There wasn’t any interruptions and my things were in place,” she said.

Rich Hall resident Chris Ruzika said he did hear about the furry pests and his resident assistant told them to help the situation.

“It has been confirmed the third and fifth floors of Sleeper have problems,” the College of Engineering sophomore said. “We’ve been warned not to leave any food open or out.”

Piga said unsealed food is one reason mice have made West Campus their home, but also recognizes that factors outside the three dormitories could be aggravating the problem. Construction on Agganis Arena and the new Fitness and Recreation Center at the John Hancock Student Village could be dislocating rodents from their former homes and forcing them to inhabit the West Campus buildings.

“In an urban setting – in any natural setting – you’re always going to have rodents,” Piga said. “They came in and found a welcoming environment. They had warmth and food as well.”

CAS freshman and Rich Hall resident David Dantes said he was not sure what workers were doing when they searched around his room while he was “half asleep,” but said the thought of mice in the dorms makes him nervous.

“It does make me uncomfortable knowing that there are rodents going around, possibly spreading some disease,” he said.

Bear said he is surprised administrators are doing such an extensive search for a mouse problem he thinks is minor.

“I’m happy with what they’re doing before it gets worse,” he said.