CHAT Photo - Rhonda Ross is raising concerns about damage caused by mice at self-storage units after losing numerous personal items.

By Alex McCuaig

Mouse infestation

Mouse infestation results in woman losing irreplaceable items

Nov 25, 2019 | 5:30 PM

Medicine Hat, AB – A city woman is dealing with the loss of numerous irreplaceable keepsakes after she discovered her self-storage unit infested with hundreds of mice earlier this month.

“My son went through cancer and I had his pajamas from the Children’s’ Hospital and they’re gone,” said Rhonda Ross through tears. “Ultra-sound pictures, things my kids made for me, my nieces made for me – they’re gone . . . that is the kind of stuff I’ll never get back.”

Ross said she rented the storage unit in February and used it to store boxes full of mementos from her children and family along with her wedding dress and mattresses.

With a few small exceptions, all of those items were destroyed by mice nesting inside various items, according to Ross. The few items which were salvageable were covered in mouse feces, she said.

“When we opened up the storage door, we could see the mouse feces covering everything,” said Rhonda Ross when she attempted to recover her belongs earlier this month.

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Ross said mice were jumping from the boxes as she tried to move them, causing her to throw out at least 75 per cent of the items.

One silver lining were items Ross said she was able to salvage that belong to her dead brother.

CHAT News reached out to the owner of the storage facility, Casman Holdings, who provided a statement.

A statement provided by Casman Holdings in response to concerns raised by storage unit renter Rhonda Ross.

The company called the incident a “singular mouse problem” rather than an infestation or epidemic.

The company also states the issue could have been caught faster and dealt with if the renter had checked on the unit on a regular basis.

Sources familiar with the self-storage business locally say such stories are not isolated.

Tips to avoid pest infestations at self-storage units include using hard-plastic containers instead of cardboard, don’t store food items and ensure anything used for cooking is clean prior to storing.