Keller says, However, that HRE "beefed up" itspest control contract on the building "because werealized it was a recurring problem." She notesthat since January, HRE has received only onecomplaint about rodents in a Botanic Gardensapartment.

HRE has placed small packets of rodent poisonin some apartments.

"We felt we had it under control sinceJanuary," Keller says. "The problem is undercontrol at present at Botanic Gardens."

But Hall says those measures were insufficient.

"[HRE] laid out traps...but they weren't nearlyenough," he says. "[The mice] keep coming back."

Rodents first appeared at Botanic Gardens afterrenovations were completed last fall.

"Whenever you have construction in a buildingit shakes up the rodent world and mice went intothe walls," Keller explains.

Will A. Rice, 15, who lives with his parents inone of the apartments, says he and his family have"captured eight of them" since last summer.

"The neighbors talk about it a lot," says Rice,adding that exterminators have come around to hisapartment twice so far.

Toni Pini, an exterminator who works for theCity of Cambridge, says the reappearance of micemay be due to sewer construction through the city."

"With all the sewer construction, the mice arestarting to come out now and are looking for ahome," Pini says.

Pini says the Cambridge exterminator's officehas not received any complaints about rodents atthe Botanic Gardens apartments