Yep, it’s true. Rats in the toilet aren’t just something from a horror movie; they’re a real and scary part of life. These little critters are surprisingly good swimmers. They can hold their breath for up to three minutes and can tread water for as long as three days. They can even squeeze through spaces as small as a quarter. Their usual route starts from your home’s main sewer line. They wriggle their way up, navigating through the narrow city waterways, and then – bam! – they pop up in your toilet like a creepy surprise from a jack-in-the-box.
Well, it turns out rats are drawn to the smells of food and waste that hang around in our sewer lines. They explore these lines by squeezing through the tiniest cracks and climbing up inside the vent stacks that lead to the roofs of buildings. Once they find a drainpipe that goes down towards a toilet, all they have to do is swim up and make a grand entrance right into the porcelain throne.