Mystic Mice: A Growing Rodent Problem

Ivana Gonzalez Lima, Staff Writer

February 19, 2025

Residents of Mystic, Deziur Wilson and Alexys Hill had a mouse in their dorm. Residents had to move their items around to protect their belongings and catch the mouse.

Piedmont residents have recently encountered rodent problems in their dorms, specifically mice.

A recent YikYak post that stated, “saw ratatouille family outside of mystic doors last night,” raised concern among residents. Quickly, rodent discovery became a reality for some residents.

The note left by residents who saw the mouse go into Mongia’s dorm. The note slipped under her door at 5 a.m. (Zannat Mongia. )

Freshman Mystic resident Zannat Mongia woke up to find a note on her door notifying her that someone had seen a mouse crawl under it.

Once Mongia saw the note, she immediately contacted her resident assistant, the resident on-call and her assistant director (AD). ResLife informed maintenance about the issue and reached out to them for assistance.

Maintenance unfortunately did not arrive as soon as possible. The crew came to Mongia’s room much later in the day. Luckily for Mongia, the mouse was not in her room, as it traveled to the room next door.

Deziur Wilson and Alexys Hill discovered the mouse in their room and “freaked out.” They said having a mouse in their room felt “unreal” for them, as they kept their room reasonably clean.

Wilson could not go to any of her classes in fear of the mouse, and Hill could only go to two that day.

The measures that residents took to ease the rodent problems. Towels were placed outside doors; some residents put towels under the door seals. (Zannat Mongia. )

Maintenance does not come into any dorm hall before 10 a.m. to maintain the residents’ privacy and respect sleep schedules, which proved frustrating for Wilson and Hill when trying to get rid of the rodent.

Wilson and Hill both felt that maintenance handled the situation “poorly.” They called maintenance multiple times to inform them of their room number and that a rodent was in it.

Maintenance eventually provided the residents with mouse traps.

“To avoid future problems like these, maintenance should listen more to residents,” said Wilson.

Wilson, Hill and Mystic’s AD, Ana Lopez, took apart the air conditioning unit in the room to catch the mouse but had no luck. The mouse stayed in the air conditioning unit throughout the weekend and finally traveled outside the room.

“We have mice for a reason, so it’s important for students to be cleaner,” emphasized Hill.

Many Mystic residents have taken it upon themselves to place towels against the bottom of the doors to their rooms to prevent mice from entering.

“If residents come across a rodent in their dorm, they are encouraged to contact the on-call number for their building, or they can send an email to [email protected],” said ResLife.

This week, a new Yik Yak post surfaced with a dead mouse found in a dorm. (YikYak)

ResLife explained how the rodent problems are due to Piedmont’s geographic location and the temperature changes outside, creating an “unfortunate reality.”

“The other thing we would encourage is whether they have or have not seen a mouse, keeping any food-like items in sealed containers can help reduce the opportunity of unwanted visitors,” suggested ResLife.

Residents have seen mice in dorms, but they can help prevent the problem by removing their trash and keeping residential

buildings clean.

If students see a rodent, they should contact the on-call number or email ResLife and maintenance will handle the issue.