The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah.

With the cold and wet weather creeping in on Ashland University, ants have begun to take shelter in Myers Hall to the great discomfort of the residents.

Junior Lindsay Cameron, a third floor resident assistant in Myers, first noticed the ants July 23 when she moved in for RA training.

“They were just little baby ants in the bathroom,” Cameron said. “I didn’t think much of it”

Now, however, the ants have rushed into Myers and taken up residence in four bedrooms and the bathroom on the third floor, Patterson side.

The most extreme case is in Kelli and Kate Fleming’s bedroom, where the girls found ants in their bed and were attempting to vacuum the ants because of the large amount of them.

“We’re currently working with facilities to execute the issue; we’re using a ‘green’ ant trap consisting of borax and sugar,” Emily Sedlak, the assistant resident director (ARD) in Myer’s Hall, said. “We have placed the traps each of the rooms and we will be checking back accordingly. After setting the traps, the ants should be gone within a week or two”

While the university and Myers Hall staff is doing what they can to correct the issue immediately, Myers residents can do their part to deter the ants in a few ways.

Lisa Johnson, Myers Hall building services worker, suggested that students make sure that any open food is in a sealed container. Also, keeping messes cleaned up, such as not leaving open pop cans lying around.

Peggy Kohler, the director of building services, responded in a timely manor by having staff members, such as Johnson, spray for ants. Then, on Sept. 8, the “green” product was used, which should take effect in a couple of weeks.

“It is not uncommon for this time of year to see an escalation in all types of insects…and if there isn’t a noticeable improvement, we would bring in a pest control technician.” Kohler said. “If students are faced with an excessive amount of insects, I encourage them to have their RA place a work order with Facilities Management and Planning.”

Others fear that the ants could interfere with student’s lifestyles on campus.

“No one should have to live like this,” said Cameron. “There are plenty of other responsibilities and concerns students have and ants in their rooms shouldn’t be one of them, because of this we are striving to meet concerns of the students and put an end to the ant circus extravaganza.”

With the combined efforts of the Myers Hall staff, residents, and the university the ants should be marching on out soon.