July 30, 2007
What Lurks Below the Loo
This is our third and last (for a while) installment from our most popular subject to date. It all started with a question about how a frog got into a second story hotel toilet, and I must say on top of being an entertaining subject, we have all learned a lot of valuable information! Seems in many cases, tree frogs, squirrels and small lizards commonly make their way into our toilets. At first I assumed they came up from the drains but from the hundreds of letters I received we all found out that most of these critters actually come from tree branches and jump down the roof vent pipes.
For the most part the toilet invaders from the tree tops were considered cute and the stories funny. But, many people are not so lucky, and there are two sides to every story. The following letters are from people who had close encounters with visitors directly from the sewers, and these visitors were not as cute. I must warn you that what you are about to read is not for the squeamish:
- Dear Ed, I recently agreed to help a friend do some work on his farm for a few weeks. The farm had a small, "clean" cabin that I could live in while I worked on the farm. The first night I was sleeping over, as I walked past the bathroom, I saw a large water snake just about to crawl out of the toilet. When the snake saw me, it darted back into the toilet and disappeared down the trap. I often think of how I would have felt if I had been sitting on the toilet when the snake first appeared. That night as I was driving home, it made sense to me why the cabin did not have the usual signs of mice that should have spent the winter there. Bill (Georgia)
- Ed, when I was a kid, I arrived at church one Sunday and thought I'd make a quick stop to the restroom. When I raised the lid, I found a huge sewer rat swimming in the bowl. I slammed the lid shut and ran screaming through the church full of people! Some of the brave men trapped the thing, and I never asked what they did with it. Since then I have had a horrible phobia about reptiles and rodents and now, 40 years later, I never use a toilet without checking it out first! Gina (Arkansas)
- Ed, I appreciate the information, but now I'm feeling sick to my stomach. Your last column about critters from the sewers coming up through the toilet, answered my question about why I kept finding snails on my bathroom floor. I just walked into my bathroom at 3:45 this morning and stepped on another one. Now that I know where they are coming from, how can I get rid of these nasty creatures? Gwen (Arkansas)
Gwen, even though snails are slow and easy to catch, you need to call an exterminator -- fast!
Posted by Ed Del Grande at 3:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 23, 2007
Squirrels Go Nuts for Toilets, Too
Last week we addressed a question from Huey who found a frog in his hotel toilet. He wanted to know if it was possible for a frog to come up the sewer lines or if someone playing a joke on him.
I explained that it is possible for critters to make their way up drain lines and into toilets, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I addressed this topic. The response has been incredible! Letters are coming in nonstop about how frogs, rats, snakes, snails, toads and even a lot of squirrels are showing up uninvited and crashing our private potties. Here are three funny and informative examples of the hundreds of letters I have received on this strange but popular topic:
- Hi, Ed. Yes, it is very possible for creatures to climb up a drain or down roof vent lines and end up in your toilet. One evening my son and his roommate heard a shrieking noise coming from the bathroom toilet. When they checked out the noise, to their surprise, a soaking wet squirrel had jumped up from the toilet and was frantically running around the bathroom! I guess catching a frog is one thing, but trying to catch a frantic squirrel? Well, all three of them had a stressful time. The good news is that no one was hurt, and the squirrel was released back into the wild. Valerie (Texas)
- Ed, one night my wife asked me to investigate a splashing sound in our upstairs toilet. When I lifted the lid I discovered a squirrel going nuts trying to climb out of the slippery bowl. I put on some leather gloves and removed the squirrel from the toilet. The gloves were a good idea, because the crazy squirrel bit me! I took it outside and placed it under a tree to recover from the ordeal. Later it scampered up the tree and was gone. We think he slipped into the four inch roof vent that was directly above our toilet. Louis (Florida)
- Ed, we know of a few cases of frogs getting into toilets. Once we returned from vacation and found one frog in our toilet and one on the bathroom floor. Another time we found a frog hopping out of the master bathroom into our bedroom! The frogs will make a real mess if you don't catch them quickly. We have determined that they are tree frogs and they climb down the plumbing vent lines, not up the sewer drains. Most people around here put pine oil or bleach in their toilets before going on vacation. A permanent fix is to use a heavy-duty screen and clamp it over the roof vent pipes. Henry (Florida)
Thanks Valerie, Louis and Henry! I picked these three to show that the roof vent pipes can also be another place of entry for critters. Putting screening over the vent is great advice for problems like tree frogs and squirrels. But, as you will see in next week's column, some very scary creatures are coming in from the deep. Stay tuned for our last follow up installment of "Always Look Before You Sit Down."
Posted by Ed Del Grande at 3:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
