...in the CEILING This isn't the first time I've heard them...last week my team and I were having a lunchtime pow-wow in my classroom when we heard them scurrying across the tiles over our heads. We all panicked and ran into the classroom next door and honestly, it was like the mice followed us because we heard them scratching and walking in the ceiling there too. Yesterday a mouse kept trying to run out of the girl's bathroom, but every time we saw it, we'd start screaming and it would dart back in. There are yellow stains on the ceiling from mouse urine and parts of the tiles have been chewed through leaving holes. A mouse has been "hanging out" in the teacher across the hall's classroom since last Thursday. It comes out during the day while the kids are in class. It causes quite a scene and chaos ensues as the kids run around, clamoring to get on top of chairs. Earlier this year, one of my co-workers found a mouse curled up sleeping (or so she thought) in her sink. She took a yard stick and poked it and found out it was dead (our theory is it fell in the sink and couldn't get out, thus starving to death over our 3 -day weekend) I'm so grossed out and concerned a mouse is going to get into my school bag and end up coming home with me. I'm not even going to get into how many roaches, spiders, katydids, crickets and other six - and eight - legged "friends" I encounter on a daily basis. Are your schools overrun with vermin like this? I've only worked in one other school building and I don't remember it being THIS bad. My old school was surrounded by a large woods and still, we rarely saw bugs or mice. I'm shocked the health department hasn't shut our building down. I'm so annoyed because the P has these near impossibly high standards set for us, yet our work environment is utterly disgusting IMHO.
We have a mouse that lives under our heater. He pops out every now and then and throws the kids into a ruckus, mostly on rainy days. It's interesting about how the boys are the ones that shriek the loudest. xD
My school is out in the country. If someone leaves the door open we will have snakes, and other furry critters. However, our custodian fights the good fight every day. He and his team would never let roaches or any other bug take over. I've never seen or heard a mouse. I know it's possible to keep the critters and insects at bay. Urine in the celing indicates y'all have a major problem. You're brave for facing that everyday
What's your school address? I'll ship them to you in time for Christmas :lol: (honestly they are cute but i still don't want to bring them home with me! kinda like my students)
We had a problem a couple of years ago when we were doing breakfast in the classrooms. We would keep leftover food, i.e. a bowl of cereal, fruit snacks etc. It caused a problem. Breakfast is now in the cafe. Now the only food I have is my lunch & hot chocolate.
The school I used to teach at was over 50 years old and in the country. Snakes weren't uncommon, neither were mice. The custodians would set out glue traps (I HATE those.) I would set out traditional traps overnight and remove them each morning. I cleared up the ones on my hall pretty quickly. If it's to the point where you have urine stains in the ceiling, something needs to be done. Since I often have rats and/or mice as pets, my kids don't jump up and scream. (Well they might would to try and catch them to put in the cage. ) If you report it and the principal doesn't do something, I'd make sure I mentioned it to parents that I knew would push to make something happen. Health is a serious issue with all of those droppings.
We have mice at school right now due to construction. We have so many open cracks and crevices they are squeezing through that they are everywhere! Mice don't bother me...it's the snakes that would bother me!!!
I had a mouse a few years ago run across the wall and into the closet. I had a teacher-aide that year and she was pretty freaked out. The students found it very entertaining. The mouse was small. I hope we don't get any this winter. There is a great book called The Wednesday Wars where there are 2 rats that live in the ceiling tiles and then one day while the teacher is being observed by the P and others....well you'll have to read it to find out what happens.
We have them in our school. Our custodian swears in the older part of our school that isn't used anymore that there are rats the size of cats. I had a baby mouse in my classroom last year. It was just sitting on the bookshelf. I didn't believe the kids because who's ever heard of a mouse just sitting there?
So far i haven't seen droppings, but I hear the mice daily scurrying about above my head and have seen them numerous times. The ceilings have holes here and there and there are several dark yellowish brown stains. Last year I had a mouse in my room that urinated all over the calendar on my desk...i thought it was water at first until I picked it up and smelled it. Will do! I'm super curious now. We aren't supposed to set up traps where they can be easily seen. Luckily for me, I haven't had a mouse in my actual classroom this year, however, it wouldn't shock me if one decides to rear it's ugly head. So far this year, aside from the one hanging out in the girl's bathroom, I've only been hearing them in the ceiling and I REFUSE to open up the tiles and go in there because I am afraid dust and other "things" will drop down into my face
I've taught at four schools in my district and each has a problem with roaches and mice. In my last classroom, I'd find droppings on my keyboard each morning. Lovely!
We have them all We have them all. I was eating lunch a few years ago on a Saturday with my drama students and a roach fell out of the ceiling into the middle of the table. When I see mice, i catch them and release them. I always find them in the prop room after the summer, they come in, followed by the garter snakes. We had run this year, god did my boys scream like little girls. They don't bother me. I catch them by the tail and take them outside.
We had one in my classroom and I tried catching it so I could release it but it was too fast. We named him Speedy. I decided to tell the kids that he was there to learn too. We read books with mice as the main characters. We did related mouse crafts. It was kinda fun. Once in awhile our "pet" mouse would dart out. Eventually I found it sitting inside our trash--dead. I didn't tell them. I let them think he managed to move on to other adventures.
We're infested with mice, but the traps placed aren't quite helping. We used to be infested with bugs, but not anymore. When the temps dropped into the 20s for three days, no one switched the HVAC to heat. Came in and for days we still had the air conditioner on even though it was below freezing. The down side is a plumbing problem and frozen kids. The upside is that the bug that used to infest my classroom have all perished!
OMG these stories are so disturbing but hilariously terrible too! I feel MUCH better. I really thought it was just me
I heard we have had them, but I have not seen them. For the longest time, I refused to go into the staff break room if nobody else was there, because that's where one lived. I once exited my classroom into the hallway and almost stepped on a snake. Thank God it wasn't a mouse!
I once caught a mouse with my hands and some paper towels just minutes before parents walked into the room for a kindergarten graduation. The parents were walking down the hallway! I released him outside and they were none the wiser. Obviously this mouse wasn't Speedy. If I saw a snake, I doubt I would have the same reaction.
I'm appalled that schools aren't taking diligent care of vermin issues. There are serious diseases that can be contracted from inhaling dust containing rodent droppings. http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html
In my old room, they'd run in the lights. You'd see the shadows run across. Eew. One day, one almost fell out! There was a tail dangling and it was so gross. I'm pretty sure I posted about it way back when. I will look for it!
CzaCza, our school was built on a field that had been empty for a long time. Technically we displaced their habitat. During the winter, they were coming in. It took awhile to get rid of them but eventually it did decrease. It was taken care of but we also had to understand that they were there first and it takes awhile. In the grand scheme of things, there weren't that many. They just happened to like my room.
Found it! http://www.minbcnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=839274#.UNKB1m_O2wB Page 3 is when they started running across the lights. My first year was my Ps first year. We have new paint and tile since then. To my knowledge, the problem has been greatly reduced.
