According to a number of reports each year by pest control officers, plumbers and local authorities, rats are able to find their way into toilets, to the great shock and surprise of home-owners.
But how do the rats get there? And, perhaps more importantly, why do they go there? And are there any other animals that invade our most private of domains?
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Unless you live off grid in the countryside, it is likely that your toilet is connected to the main sewerage system. This means that when you flush the loo, the waste is carried off through a series of pipes and ducts to be treated at a sewerage works. That's the idea at any rate. Not all sewerage systems are well maintained, efficient and functioning properly. And even those that do work as intended still leave entry points for rats.
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How do rats get into toilets?
Rats and other animals can easily enter sewers through grates, drains and broken pipes. While sewers are entirely unattractive places for us, for rats they offer sanctuary from predators and are generally warmer than potential rat havens above ground.
Rats can also find plenty of food in our waste. Sometimes sewerage systems not only carry what we flush down our toilets, they take water from kitchen sinks, which may contain all sorts of food scraps. Rats aren't fussy.
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Rats are agile and inquisitive. In fact, if we didn't spend so much time being scared or horrified by them, we might find much to admire. The constant quest for food will encourage a rat to explore every tunnel and pipe it comes across. This could easily lead it up an individual waste water system into a house. Sharp claws on every toe enable the rat to cling to vertical surfaces with no fear of falling.
You might think that the pipes would be too small for a rat to get through but a rat has an incredibly supple body. If it can get its head through a hole, the rest of its body will follow, This is because it can compress its ribcage. Each rib bone is attached to the spine by a sort of hinge, meaning the ribcage collapses briefly as the rat wiggles through a tight space.
Water doesn't daunt it either. In laboratory tests, rats have been found to hold their breath for up to three minutes. And rats have incredible stamina. Excellent swimmers, they can tread water for up to three days.
So negotiating u-bends and narrow, water-filled pipes is easy for a rat. And possibly worth it if it then climbs out of the toilet bowl to explore the house and find food. It then makes its way back to the sewer the way it came in.
While the shock of seeing a rat in your toilet might be hard to get over, losing food and finding rat droppings in the larder is equally unpleasant. But worse still, rats are known carriers of diseases such as leptospirosis (Weil’s disease), hantavirus, and rat bite fever, which can be transmitted through contact with rat urine, faeces, or saliva.
That said, it is rare to see a rat in your toilet. There are millions, if not billions of toilets connected to sewerage systems and very few incidents with the millions of rats that live among us. But some households fit a so-called rodent blocker, a sort of one-way flap, that lets water and waste out but stops rats from coming in.
Other animals that can be found in toilets
Snakes
Wherever rats go, some predators may follow. In Australia, there are many reports of people finding carpet pythons, green tree snakes and common tree snakes in their toilet bowl. It's thought they follow the scent of rats from the sewerage system and make their way through the pipes by using their powerful muscles and flattening or collapsing their bodies to sneak through tight spots.
Spiders
Spiders have been known to make their webs in and around toilet seats as this is an excellent place to trap flies and other insects that might be attracted to the smell. And some spiders and other creatures fall into the toilet bowl and are then unable to get out. It is very similar to finding a spider in the bath. You might think it has crawled up the plug hole but it is more likely that it has fallen or climbed in from above and then been able to scale the steep sides to escape.
However, in Australia, venomous funnel web spiders can travel underwater for long distances by trapping air in hairs on their bodies, enabling them to breathe as they – potentially - crawl up through the sewerage system and around the u-bend.
So if you live in a region where dangerous spiders can be found, it always pays to give the toilet a quick scan before you use it.
