We've mentioned rats in your toilet quite a lot, but they are by no means the only creatures you might find in your loo.
Much depends on your geographical location, so for example it's highly unlikely you will get a python appear in your toilet if you live in the UK - well, unless you are Laura Tranter from Stourbridge who woke up one morning to just that in Oct 2021! In this particular instance though, it is thought that the poor creature was an unwanted pet that had somehow found its way into the sewer. But as a general rule, the native wildlife of a country will largely control who and what might decide to pay a visit through your toilet.
There have been many accounts of snakes surprising toilet users in countries such as the USA, Australia, South Africa and Thailand. Snakes will often follow rats down into sewer systems and they soon learn how to navigate the plumbing bends.
So it stands to reason that any creature that inhabits sewer systems and is small enough to travel through pipes, is a likely contender to pop up in your loo one morning. Funnel web spiders can be a particular problem in Australia. They can't swim, but they are pretty good at creating a float and mobile oxygen 'tank' with an air bubble around the abdomen. This clever capability lets them stay underwater for up to 30 hours if necessary!
So that's rats, snakes, spiders so far. Let's not forget frogs! Frogs are also very capable sewer swimmers. Frogs love water, they rely on it, so it should come as no surprise that they feel a pull toward damp environments such as sewers and in particular that lovely fresh water just sitting in your toilet bowl. Construction work can upset the natural habitat of frogs and drive them toward highly populated areas, where they wouldn't ordinarily breed as seemed to be the case in Derbyshire in 2020 when there was somewhat of a local frog invasion!
That's just a few of the potential toilet visitors you might have, the easiest and most efficient way to keep your toilet and home free from unwanted visitors is to make sure all entry points to drains and toilets are sealed by fitting a non-return valve such as MultiFlap. There are two main areas where you can fit a critter blocking Multiflap valve; in the drain outlet pipe (MF3) or directly to the toilet outlet (MF1 & NF2) https://www.multiflap.com/buy-now
Once in position The MultiFlap non return valve allows waste to pass through when the toilet is flushed, but then immediately closes its integral flap to stop anything on the other side from entering. This also has the benefit of stopping any backflow. Its completely humane, easy to fit and relatively cheap.
Image credit: Spotted in Chesterfield