Boston University students are “unsurprised” by sightings of mice in Mugar Memorial Library after a video of a mouse on the third floor of the building was posted to the BU subreddit page last week.
Freshman Johana Larti said because of recent cold weather, the video didn’t surprise her.
“It’s cold, and the mice need to be warm, so they’ll go inside,” Larti said.
BU Custodial Operations received a report of a “pest issue” in a room in an administrative area of Mugar the week before intercession, BU Spokesperson Colin Riley wrote in an email to The Daily Free Press.
“Custodial staff place traps in reported areas and contact All Star Pest for follow-up,” Riley wrote. “Facilities has an integrated Pest Management approach that involves identifying the pest, undertaking exclusion efforts to keep them out and then appropriate measures such as baiting and trapping.”
Riley wrote food is another factor that attracts mice in these spaces and is a particular problem during finals week, when Mugar is open 24 hours a day.
To prevent rodents and “unwanted pests,” food is not allowed in Mugar, according to the BU Libraries Code of Conduct, but students said the rule is not strictly enforced.
“They didn’t say anything when I brought food in,” said senior Jordan Paik. “So I assumed it would be okay because I was clearly carrying food and I saw other people eating.”
Paik said she’s seen a mouse in Mugar at least twice while attending BU. Both times were during finals week and on the upper floors of the building.
“I saw it and I thought it was kind of cute,” Paik said. “But it’s a library so I thought it was disgusting. A lot of my friends were freaked out by it and had to stand on their chairs.”
Freshman Fiona Sykes said she’s “desensitized” by mice sightings in Mugar since she lives in Warren Towers, which she said has silverfish.
“We encourage students to report any issues they experience while in the library to the Library Services Desk so that they can be referred to the appropriate department and addressed,” Library Communications Manager Johanna Kaiser wrote in an email to The Daily Free Press.
