Students at Truax may have had to make different lunch plans for several days late last month due to the food outlets on campus being closed after a college staff member spotted a mouse.

The mouse was seen approximately 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 14 leading to sales being restricted to only pre-packaged food the rest of the day. On Feb. 18, Aaron Burkes, the college’s interim vice president of administration, sent out an email informing students and employees that The Bakery, WolfPack Den, Whole Bowl and Gourmet Dining Room would all be closed until Feb. 19 as a precautionary measure. Sales in the cafeteria were still restricted that day to pre-packaged food.

The presence of mice has been attributed to the new construction, but food is also a factor.

“Unfortunately, when you have buildings this size and you have food, there’s always going to be issues with pests, whether it be insects or rodents,” said Michael Stark, the director of Facility Services for the college. “Some of our other buildings where we don’t have food, we don’t have any mice problems whatsoever – at least that I know of.”

The Truax campus not only has the kitchen that serves the cafeteria, but also in the culinary and baking areas.

“There’s always been a very, very low mice problem in the building. I mean, it’s always been manageable,” Stark said. “There is a pesticide service that we subscribe to. They come in periodically – once a month, if not more – to treat the building. If an activity is noticed, then of course, it is stepped up and they would try to do more to take care of that issue.”

The pest control vendor, Plunketts Pest Control, has an ongoing contract to monitor numerous rooms and spaces around the College for mice and other pest activity. Since the reports on Feb. 14, the vendor was asked to add additional traps and to do more detailed and frequent inspections. The vendor uses live bait stations, checking in almost every other day since the recent incident.

A cleaning crew was hired by the college through a temporary agency, which is the same agency used by the Kohl Center and the Dane County Coliseum to sterilize the kitchens. They were told that there was a mice infestation, but they had not spotted any – nor evidence of the presence of any.

After the email about the closure of food service outlets went out, students appeared to be alarmed. Rachel Ramsey, a student at the college, sat in the cafeteria on Feb. 18. She said she is going to think twice about eating food from Truax.

“I’ll probably bring a lunch,” Ramsey said.

Alex Jackelen was another student who was alarmed.

“I won’t eat here until at least the end of the year,” Jackelen said.

Stark said he eats food prepared at Truax at least 2-3 times a week. Stark bought lunch at the cafeteria on the day the kitchens reopened on Feb. 19, but ate in his office because he was unable to find a vacant spot to sit.

Food service personnel said loss of food and resources was minor. Although the kitchen closed on Friday after the mouse was first seen, the kitchen staff was able to stop deep-frying the fish that was being served that day and stored it for later use.

Stark said it is nearly impossible to determine how many mice there were in the cafeteria area prior to initial sighting.

“It’s difficult to prove or to say with certainty there are no mice because they’re typically more active in the evening when there’s nobody here. Until we get things under control we’re definitely stepping things up significantly to get this eradicated as soon as we can,” Stark said.

“Being in here, it seems pretty clean,” said Phalen Pierson, one of the temporary employees doing the cleaning.

Standard soap and water was used to wipe down all of the surfaces in the kitchens. All pots were moved and all surfaces like shelves and counters were wiped down.

“We are required to follow the same codes and inspections as any restaurant would,” Stark said.

The Dane County and Madison Public Health Department inspects the kitchen at least once per year. All inspections are unannounced. The last inspection at Truax was done in June 2013 when the construction was concluding.

“Minor violations for food marking and better thermometer placement in our coolers were noted,” Stark said.

When violations are found, businesses are given 30 days to make any corrections and a follow-up visit is made to ensure compliance.