Ant poison was applied to Greenbriar apartments last Wednesday after three weeks of ant infestations. The Student Housing Office decided to apply ant poison to every room of the residence, one of two apartment-style dormitories McGill University offers students. The decision came three weeks after a student first reported an ant infestation.
Since move-in day on Aug. 26, Greenbriar residents have slept, studied and eaten alongside an infestation of small, fiery red pharaoh ants. As students have started to stock their kitchen cabinets with food, ants have stocked their kitchens, bathrooms and even their beds.
“There were at least 15 to 20 ants in my bed when I got into bed one night,” said Megan Rusciano, U0 Arts. Rusciano reported the problem immediately to the Student Housing Office who sent an exterminator within three days. The ants disappeared for a day or two but then relocated to her desk.
Rusciano spoke to the Greenbriar superintendent who gave her Ant-B-Gon, a poison. This specialized ant bait is supposed to eliminate the ant colony in seven days, but the Student Housing Office reported this would take at least five weeks.
Rusciano, along with other residents facing similar problems, said the Ant-B-Gon helps, but doesn’t eliminate all the ants. Drops of sticky ant bait and dead ants now cover their countertops, while ants continue to roam their rooms.
A frustrated Daphna Harel, U1 Math, complained to the Student Housing Office last Monday that her right to live in a safe and healthy environment was being infringed upon.
“This is my home,” Harel told the Tribune. “As a tenant of the apartment I have a right not to live in an apartment with pests and vermin. I pay good money for this apartment.”
Two days after her complaint, Student Housing Office Services Coordinator Monique Mercier sent notices to all residents informing them someone would be applying Ant-B-Gon in every room. Mercier, who joined the Student Housing Office Administration in January, said Solin Hall had the same problem last year.
Mercier learned about the ant infestation this summer, but thought past administrators had solved the problem. Superintendent Millaire Lafleur said the ants have been in Greenbriar for two or three years, but the infestation occurred this year.
Mercier suspected from the description of the ants that they are pharaoh ants. She said pharaoh ants don’t pose a health risk, but according to Pest Control Canada they can “transmit over a dozen pathogens.” They can infect foods with dangerous diseases including typhoid and polio.
Mercier said that a majority of students had reported the ant problem, however, Lafleur said only four or five apartments had a problem with the pests. Maintenance checks are supposed to be done every year in the apartments, in part to assure that ant problems do not persist, said Mercier. But Lafleur said only cleaning is done.
“It’s supposed to be the student who comes for the inspection of the apartment. They are the ones who should check the problems and if there is a problem, the students should let us know,” Lafleur said.
Mercier is intent upon taking care of the ant problem as soon as possible. The Student Housing Office sent an exterminator to eliminate ants in specific rooms, but the exterminator does not kill the nests. She decided she will personally administer the application of the ant poison.
“We are taking care of it and we will continue to take care of it. The students are our clients -our first priority,” Mercier said.
