We like to think of the bathroom as a safe space.
It's where we should have the opportunity to be private people, undisturbed by nuisance. It's where we all go to, you know, do our business. It's not meant to be shared with anyone or anything.
But the fact of the matter is that we share our bathrooms — at home or while out — with lots of things all the time, whether we see them or not. There are creepy-crawlies everywhere, no matter where we live. Most of the time they are completely harmless and nothing to fret about. For instance, the common house spider will help you keep other pesky insects at bay, so it's better to ignore them.
Sometimes, though, we get guests we definitely don't expect, in places we don't expect. For instance: the toilet.
There are some truly surprising animals that can easily get into your toilet bowl through the drainpipes. There are others that might find their way into your toilet once they're already in your home. There are others still that can get there via your toddler, but that's a different story entirely.
Either way, no one wants to see any of these 10 creatures when they do their business. No way, no how. After reading this, it may just be worth a look inside the bowl before taking a seat!
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Thumbnail source: Flickr
1. Rats
That's right, rats can climb up through your pipes, swimming through the portions of pipe filled with water until they reach air. If you don't believe me, just watch exactly how it's done.
2. Frogs
Frogs, too, are frequent toilet pipe swimmers. This happens so often in Florida that the Tampa Bay Times had to tell its readers how to prevent the incidents from happening.
3. Crabs
A woman in the South Pacific went to use her hotel toilet and found this little guy hanging out. I'd have jumped about 10 feet in the air!
4. Cockroaches
Cockroaches don't come up from your pipes, but they could be coming in through the walls via holes or cracks. If you've ever had a roach problem, you know that you may open up the toilet lid to find that a few of them dropped into the bowl.
5. Centipedes
Similar to cockroaches, centipedes don't come up through your pipes, but through cracks in the walls and floors where the pipes enter your bathroom. They end up in your toilet looking for a damp place.
6. Squirrels
If a squirrel is young and small enough to fit in your pipes, then it can pop up in your toilet bowl. A woman once found a weak little squirrel caked in pipe gunk struggling in her bowl. She cleaned him off and set him free. That is certainly not the only time a squirrel has shown up in someone's toilet, though.
7. Lizards
If they can swim, they can end up in your toilet bowl. One family in Penang, Malaysia, struggled with a lizard that kept retreating back into their toilet for three whole days.
8. Possums
Yes, folks, that's right. These nocturnal rodents have been known to make their way up pipes, too. So in addition to looking out in your garbage cans, make sure your toilet bowl is safe, as well! The San Diego Animal Control Department had to deal with multiple calls about these incidents in a span of just weeks.
9. Spiders
These creepy-crawlies can't come up through your pipes because they can't swim. However, they can end up in your toilet bowl because they are thirsty creatures that, I hate to break it to you, live in your house with you all the time. This is also the reason they end up in your shower and sink drains. They are just trying to get a drink!
10. Snakes
While this one is very rare, even more so than the others, it may be the most terrifying. Snakes are one of the most feared things among adults, and one slithering in the toilet bowl as you're about to take a seat sounds like a lot of folks' worst nightmare.
Have you ever found any of these creepy-crawlies in your toilet? Please SHARE this terrifying information with family and friends on Facebook!
