A few years ago, we sent out a survey to school personnel to ask about their most frequent and troublesome pest problems. The top three were bee/wasps, mice, and ants. These three pests have something in common – they move from the outdoors into our buildings. What else do they have in common? They can be prevented from entering.

Out of the mulch and into the [school]: how to keep out crawling pests, from spiders to rodents

Dr. Matt Frye, Cornell IPM Rodent & Structural Pest Management Specialist, discussed common pests that walk in, how to inspect for entry points, types of openings that you might need to seal, and then how you can effectively seal those openings with the right materials. While the Pests at the Perimeter: How Landscape Design Influences Indoor Pest Intrusion conference was geared to homeowners, all the information applies to school and child care facilities.

A highlight of the presentation shows how small holes can be and still let mice in. You can watch the video in the presentation above, but you’ll want to hear the music in the original video. You’ll thank me later.

Resources included in the video include:

• www.PestExclusion.org
• Exterior Inspection Form Instructions (the actual form can be found here)
• The Frye Inspection Tool can be purchased from Xcluder (or, if you visit our table at the 2025 New York State School Environmental Health Conference, we will be providing them as a giveaway)
• Material Selection (scroll down to Pest Exclusion Resources)
• What’s Bugging You? Webinars

Dr. Frye concludes with additional benefits to exclusion including:

• Helping to improve the energy efficiency of the building by sealing gaps
• Enabling a humane, no-kill approach to many pest issues
• Less pesticide use

For more information on dealing with specific pests, visit Cornell IPM’s What’s Bugging You?. There is also a page dedicated to School and child care specific information.