{"id":89788,"date":"2024-12-12T11:28:19","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T04:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/?p=89788"},"modified":"2024-12-12T11:28:19","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T04:28:19","slug":"creepy-creatures-in-your-toilet-heres-how-to-keep-unwanted-guests-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/creepy-creatures-in-your-toilet-heres-how-to-keep-unwanted-guests-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Creepy Creatures in Your Toilet? Here’s How to Keep Unwanted Guests Out!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In the summer of 2023, a woman in Arizona came home to find an unwelcome guest in her toilet.\n

Coiled up in the bowl was an almost four-foot snake, whose terrifying hisses gave toilet users everywhere chills.\n

This is just one of many times a creature has made its way into a home and settled in the porcelain throne. In this story, we’ll share some tips on how to prevent and handle creatures that crawl through the pipes and into your toilet.\n

In July 2023, Arizona\u2019s Michelle Lespron returned home to a horrifying scene in her bathroom.\n

\u201cI lifted up the lid and he or she was curled up,\u201d Lespron told The Associated Press of the almost four-foot long snake that was nestled in her toilet. \u201cThank God the lid was closed.\u201d\n

Calling for professional help, the snake was removed but he didn\u2019t go willingly.\n

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Click on the picture to see more\n

The employee who pulled the snake from the bowl captured the rescue on camera and the snake was hissing in objection.\n

\u201cEverybody has the same reaction: \u2018Oh my god that\u2019s my worst nightmare,\u2019\u201d Lespron said.\n

Snakes\n

Snakes love cool, wet, and dark places, which is why toilet pipes can be very inviting. But they\u2019re not just slithering through the pipes for fun, typically they are looking for an out after chasing food in the sewer.\n

And when they\u2019re done snacking, they take the quickest path to freedom, which is often through a pipe into a toilet.\n

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Like the coachwhip found in Lespron\u2019s toilet, it\u2019s often the non-venomous kind of snake, with the occasional anaconda, that are slim enough to fit through pipes.\n

If you live in a colder climate, you needn\u2019t worry too much about unwelcome serpents in your bathroom. Unless you live in an apartment building where snakes are kept by residents as pets.\n

Rats\n

Like snakes, pipes are also enticing to rats, who are always hunting for a food source.\n

In some homes, the toilet and garbage disposal flow through the same plumbing tubes and rats can easily find a way through.\n

Rats unfortunately are shockingly flexible and spend much of their lives running through tight spaces.\n

The rodents are also natural swimmers and according to Austin Wildlife Removal, \u201cthey can also swim up drainpipes and end up in your home that way as well. This isn\u2019t very common though and it\u2019s more likely that rats will come into your home through an opening such as a hole in the wall or door.\u201d\n

Spiders\n

Spiders can\u2019t swim through your pipes however they are very resourceful and will find a safe path to your toilet.\n

Most will use the seat for the only purpose of frightening the next user, however, some \u2013 like black widows \u2013 cast a web across the bowl. But that usually only happens with outdoor toilets that don\u2019t have plumbing and are not connected to a sewer system.\n

If you\u2019re ever using an outhouse, always carefully inspect the seat.\n

Black widows, along with the brown recluse and the hobo spider, will leave you with a nasty bite.\n

Lizards\n

In Florida, people have found iguanas splashing around in their toilet bowls and in Thailand, a British tourist was terrified when he found a monitor lizard flicking him off with his venomous tongue.\n

Water-loving lizards in toilets is common in the southern states, where homes have vent stacks on the roof that are left open to air out odors and gasses.\n

\u201cIf these iguanas are not by water, they can sense where water is. If they\u2019re on a roof, they can smell the water. They end up going into the pipeline,\u201d said Harold Rondon, wildlife removal specialist. \u201cOnce they get into that pipeline\u2026the only way [out] is through your toilet.\u201d\n

Marsupials\n

About eight years ago, a San Diego woman found a soggy baby opossum trapped in her toilet.\n

\u201cNot to worry, we don\u2019t think this one came up through the plumbing. After finding a second opossum in her home, the resident found a broken window where they likely gained access,\u201d writes San Diego County Animal Services about the rescued infant and its buddy.\n

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And then in 2016, a baby possum was found in the toilet of an Australian home.\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the first time in 30 years that I\u2019ve ever heard of a possum coming up through the toilet system,\u201d the rescuer said. \u201cI\u2019ve heard of rats before, but never a possum.\u201d\n

Keep your bathroom free of critters\n

Now that you\u2019re likely nervous about going to the bathroom, we\u2019ll offer you a few tips to hopefully make creatures feel less welcome.\n

Keep your toilet clean: Frequently clean your toilet with a disinfectant. White vinegar or baking soda are also great alternatives.
\nKeep it dry: Many pests love humidity and are drawn to wet bathroom floors. Use a towel to dry the floor after showers and if there are any leaks, call a plumber.
\nMaintenance: Flush a cleaning solution down the drain to make it less inviting to pests.
\nKeep your seat down and always look before you sit.
\nIf you do find anything splashing around in your toilet, don\u2019t be a hero and call a professional removal service.\n

What do you think of this story? Please let us know what you think and then share this story so we can hear what others have to say!\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the summer of 2023, a woman in Arizona came home to find an unwelcome guest in her toilet. Coiled up in the bowl was an almost four-foot snake, whose terrifying hisses gave toilet users everywhere chills. This is just one of many times a creature has made its way into a home and settled …\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[670,410,1441],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-life-hacks","category-tips-and-tricks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89791,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89788\/revisions\/89791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}