No matter how deeply in love you are with the animal world, nobody likes uninvited guests
in their house!
Especially when they just appear at any moment in… brace yourself .… your bathroom or
toilet!
Why do they do that and how can you protect yourself from unpleasant surprises?
I’ll tell you everything you need to know and more!
1) Rats.
That’s normally what you might say when you see one.
They’re mostly just unsanitary.
There’s nothing particularly scary about a single rat.
They’re not frightening because of their appearance at all.
Some people even find them quite cute, but that’s just if we’re speaking about domesticated
ones, that are clean and happy.
Even I like those!
But the others that live all around us still put shivers down my spine because of just
one of their traits: where there’s one, there’s hundreds!
It also doesn’t help that everywhere you are, they’re always close; you just can’t
see them.
The ability of these creatures to fool everyone and adapt to us humans is just unimaginable.
Unimaginable and creepy.
(The Disney movie Ratatouille notwithstanding, of course.)
But enough spooky stories, you’ve probably already been told at some point that they
fear you more than you fear them.
And that’s true!
Rats are extremely cowardly, and that’s exactly the reason they’re so sneaky.
It’s also the reason why they may end up in your most private zone.
Rats are always on the hunt for two things: food and shelter.
And if you think of it from the perspective of a small, furry ball of cowardice, there’s
no better shelter than sewers.
They’re cool when it’s hot outside, and warm when it’s cold outside.
There’s always something falling you can snatch for yourself, and there are no humans
and not many predators.
What else can a simple rat wish for?
Except when your own kind becomes the most fearsome predator, and you’re too shy to
strike back.
You see, rats have an unspeakable social structure.
There are always bullies among them that kick weaker rats around and take away their food
for themselves.
In a time of need, let’s say a flood in the sewers or the overpopulation of rats,
those attacks become only more vicious.
So some rats prefer to just run from the sewers to find some other shelter for themselves.
Remember, only the most desperate rat would go right to the center of the danger zone,
which is your home.
For the most part, you really have nothing to worry about.
But there are desperate times for rats, and, being excellent swimmers, they’re most certainly
capable of going through the toilet plumbing.
It just doesn’t happen naturally.
They know you don’t want them around, and that you might be aggressive towards them.
That’s enough of a reason for them to stay away.
But you can further ensure your safety by following some simple advice: try not to flush
any food remains down the toilet, and make sure your pipes are more than 24 inches wide
– rats are fans of close spaces and wider pipes just don’t fit them well.
There are a lot more chances they’ll just avoid them.
In any case, if you see a rat somewhere near your place – let specialists deal with them.
2) Frogs Don’t laugh, I’m serious!
Let’s go down the list of qualities that allow an animal to show up in the bathroom,
if you don’t believe me.
It should be good at going through tight places.
Ever tried to hold a frog in your hands?
It’s like trying to catch wet soap!
It’s slippery, and will basically go anywhere it wants.
How about swimming?
Frogs are pros at that.
And they should have a good reason to come to your house.
Hmm, that’s where it gets weird, I agree.
But frogs have the best reason.
I’ll give you a hint: they swarm around when you forget to switch the lights off in
hotter times of the year.
Yep, you guessed it, insects.
Some people have the bad habit of leaving a light on in the bathroom, and where there’s
light, there are insects – every frog knows that!
So, if you find it funny and improbable, I have news for you: you probably don’t have
such a habit and won’t meet a frog in your toilet.
But you know, I was shocked to learn that it’s quite a common problem in hot and moist
areas.
At least frogs aren’t harmful in any way.
3) Snakes Let’s be honest, you knew they’d be on
this list, but you were hoping that snakes in a toilet bowl are just an urban legend.
Unfortunately, I’ve got nothing to soothe you here.
Snakes and sewer pipes go together just fine – snakes are the champions of flexibility
in the animal world.
They can also swim long distances.
There are even some pro swimmers among snakes, which are “water snakes” – they, for
the most part, live in the water.
The sides of a snake like that are flattened, effectively making its body one long fin.
But that doesn’t mean that their round-sided brothers can’t swim.
All snakes are capable of that special “s”-shaped movement that allows them to not only stay
afloat on the water but also develop an impressive speed.
And finally, they love to hunt rats.
We just figured out that sewers can be a home for rats, which are a good source of food
for snakes.
Still, the sewers themselves are not the best place for snakes.
Serpents are coldblooded reptiles, and that means that they need to lay in the sun and
stay out of the water as much as they can.
While this may vary a lot from one snake species to another, in general, they won’t like
it in a cold wet place where no light shines.
Either way, people find snakes in white ceramic bowls from time to time.
In 2017, there were around – (Is this number right?
Yeah.)--- -- 32,000 police calls about snakes in houses in Bangkok, and it seems like their
favorite places were toilet bowls.
Supposedly that happened because rats suddenly swarmed the city’s sewer system due to ineffective
trash recycling on the streets.
One man even encountered a 10ft python that bit him!
Hmm, it doesn’t say where.
Good thing pythons aren’t venomous at all.
But once again, there’s almost nothing to worry about.
Most cities aren’t suitable for snakes’ well-being in any possible way and to add
to this – snakes rarely bite people and are rarely venomous.
Even if we’re talking about venomous snakes, about 50% of registered cases of snake bites
were so-called “dry bites” – when snakes don’t use their poison because they just
want to be left alone, like Greta Garbo.
And that’s mostly what they want from people.
If a snake isn’t cornered – it won’t bite, it’ll just find a way to slither away
from you.
In other words, finding a snake in a toilet?
Extremely rare, but possible.
Is this snake a threat to you?
Not at all if you don’t try to mess with it and just call the appropriate services.
4) Funnel Web Spider Australia is the place to find all kinds of
stories about strange creatures living side by side with people.
From giant crocs on the streets to people abandoning towns because of invasions of spiders
flying on webs – this crazy land has it all.
But one spider species has been earning its reputation for making people freak out more
than most.
It’s the funnel web spider.
Not only is this spider venomous, it also has a bad habit of crawling into toilets.
And it can go either way!
They fall into bowls from ceilings, and they can go through plumbing.
Like most spiders, the funnel web can’t swim, but it can survive in the water for
as long as 30 hours by collecting air between hairs on its abdomen.
All in all, encounters like this range from rare to almost impossible.
It’s nothing to lose sleep over for sure - your house is still your castle.
And it’s not always scary things that appear in your bathroom; sometimes it’s just little
animals who are in danger.
There were even cases of squirrels falling into sewers and finding their way out through
the plumbing of houses.
Sometimes it also happens to little possums too.
Try not to fear them, maybe you’re just their destined rescuer after all.
Have you ever stumbled upon some animal in an unusual place?
Let me know down in the comments!
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Stay on the Bright Side of life!