They crawl into your lockers, sneak into classrooms and assault you repeatedly during class. The ants and flies at Pinewood Upper Campus have now be- come a significant issue for the community, calling for an imminent solution.

Many students and faculty have been bothered by the pests on campus. There have been swarms of flies in classrooms, crowds of ants spotted in the locker rooms and even an occasional mouse in a classroom.

Sophomore Zoe Detrick said that the ant problem has extended beyond the school premises, with ants following her to her house.

“They were crawling all over the benches and inside of my locker,” Detrick said. “I would find ants literally everywhere, to the point where I accidentally brought them home one day because they had gotten into my bag.”

Sophomore Sophia Lee said the fly issue is also a problem.

“It’s really hard to focus when there’s flies assaulting you every once in a while,” Lee said.

In addition to this, the issue hasn’t gone away.

“I’ve noticed the ants for as long as I’ve been here — a whole year,” Detrick said.

The bugs issue has been a problem for many years, and there has been little to no improvement in the situation.

Detrick said that she often encounters ants in food-related areas, so she wonders if leftover trash and food from lunch may be contributing to the issue.

Head of Science Department Kim Hudson believes that the pest affair may be inevitable.

“[Biology teacher Monica] Ventrice and I have always thought that the ant issue is a result of most of the rooms be- ing vacant during the summer,” Hudson said.

“The ants are disturbed by us moving around, and by the end of the summer, water is scarcer, so the ants head inside to look for some.”

Hudson said that the flies are in class- rooms because of breeding season and warmth.

“There is much less likely to be strong breezes to move them away,” Hudson said.

It seems as though the pest issue is simply driven by nature, and is likely to stick around. Until then, grab a fly swatter.