Local News

2 local Redditors said rats entered their toilets from below. It’s rare, but it can happen.

Here's why rodents sometimes find themselves in your bathroom.

Rats are a problem in Greater Boston, with some residents reporting that the rodents have shown up in their toilets. George Rizer/Boston Globe

By Katelyn Umholtz

January 31, 2024

Rat sightings are all too common in Greater Boston, marking the city as one of the most rat-infested areas of the country due to its bustling rodent population. They’re in your trash bins feasting, at your T stations, and chewing your car’s wires, no matter the neighborhood.

What’s worse: Sometimes rats end up inside our homes or other buildings, and as a couple of Reddit posts pointed out, they can find their way in our toilets.

“So this morning I found a rodent (young rat probably, or very large mouse) dead in my toilet, presumably drowned,” Reddit user jojohohanon wrote a week ago in Somerville’s sub-Reddit. “Toilet seat was down.”

Rodent in toilet
byu/jojohohanon inSomerville

A few commenters were quick to point out that this was unfortunately the second complaint about a rat in a toilet posted to the sub-Reddit. But four months ago, this Reddit user said they found one alive.

“Well, new fear just landed,” one user commented.

Boston.com could not confirm these specific incidents, but Somerville’s Environmental Health Services said rodents can end up in toilets. There are also multiple reports on Boston 311 of residents complaining about similar surprise bathroom visits from rats.

“They’re really good swimmers,” said Sebastian Ortiz, office manager at Best Pest Control Services in Somerville. “And the sewer is a perfect environment for them — there’s food and shelter.”

Ortiz added that rats are also good at climbing — in this case, sewer lines that run from the street to homes — and will go just about anywhere they can fit in search of their next feast.

Your rodent visitor might have ended up there also because it was likely seeking shelter when it rained, officials said.

“Weather is a big factor in rodents,” Ortiz said. “They’ll find (shelter) wherever they can get it, and they’re pretty relentless on their search for food and a safe habitat.”

This may be the best argument ever to be made for keeping the toilet lid shut, but to be clear, finding rats in toilets is a pretty rare occurrence, according to the City of Somerville.

According to publicly-available Boston 311 reports, there were at least four reports of rats found in toilets or bathrooms in the last year. Ortiz said in the three years he’s worked at Best Pest Control Services, he hasn’t dealt with a case of a rodent sneaking its way into a toilet, but he has seen cases of rats in the plumbing.

But rats in general are a major problem in Boston, with reports of rat infestations on the rise in the city and other municipalities. City Councilor Ed Flynn has said since last year that Boston needs a pest control department, and even introduced an ordinance for other council members to consider creating an office similar to New York City’s “rat czar” that formed to eradicate the post-pandemic spike in the rat population.

Other solutions have been debated by residents, like trash cans that are sealed or collapsible, cities doling out free rat traps, and delaying trash collection.

But in the specific and rare case that you do find a rat in your toilet, Somerville officials had suggestions for how to handle the rodent problem.

First: Immediately close the lid so it won’t jump out.
Flush the toilet a few times. “This will likely cause the rat to go back down the drain.”
Pour dish soap in the toilet because it “may degrease the oils in the rat’s fur so it does not stay afloat in the water.”
Report the incident to 311 and your building owner.