Bruins Battle the Rodents : Campus Rat Race Drives Them Indoors

Driven out of their traditional nesting places by construction at UCLA, a large number of rats have moved into two of the university’s most popular buildings.

Rats have been sighted and rat droppings and gnawed computer wires are evident at Kerckhoff Hall and Ackerman Union, according to Jason Reed, executive director of the Associated Students of UCLA.

The two buildings house, among other services, student restaurant facilities, a bookstore, a clothing shop, campus newspapers and a bowling alley.

“We are taking aggressive action to solve the problem,” Reed said. “We must emphasize that there is no health hazard, particularly in the restaurants. They are checked regularly. At the same time, we want to get rid of the rats and take corrective measures to deny them easy access to the buildings.”

Dewey Pest Control, under contract by UCLA to battle all forms of pests, including rats, has intensified its efforts in the two buildings, said Patrick James, head of the firm’s Santa Monica office.

Setting Traps

Three employees are working five days a week setting spring traps in the buildings.

“We are catching several a day,” James said, “and we are getting fewer sightings and reported droppings and gnawings. We are going to solve the problem.”

James and Reed attributed the rat migration into the buildings to the removal of ivy and other ground cover to make way for construction last spring of Bruin Walk alongside the two buildings.

The walk, featuring stairs and decorative material, replaced a steep, sloping asphalt incline that for years attracted daredevils racing on skates, skateboards, bicycles and, occasionally, motorcycles.

To make way for the widened walkway, workmen had to remove ground cover that served as a natural nesting place for the rats. “They simply moved into the buildings, where they can survive on scraps,” James said. “The recent cold weather also spurred them to seek shelter.”

Reed said that the rat problem has alerted campus officials to the need to make old buildings at UCLA more rat-resistant. Kerckhoff Hall was built in 1932, Ackerman Union in 1961.

He refused to estimate how long it will take to solve the problem--”I guess when we stop receiving complaints from people in the buildings,” Reed said.