Beginning to dread working in attics, taking up floorboards or removing your old boxes, in case you came across mice, you might just be going through a very common phobia called ‘MUSOPHOBIA’. Dr Genna Crosser, was the first person who not only diagnosed this problem in her patient but also suffered from it herself. Where some people think of mice as cute and cuddly, phobics tend to find them disgusting and carriers of diseases.
I cannot help but re-encounter the time, when our house had a lot of rats. They would eat our food, chew into the pipes and metal sheets, they outsmart you at every turn. We then planned to put in a rat detector and rat traps. ‘We need to think like a mouse’ is what my brother told me, trust me the encounter was way more disgusting and petrifying than it sounds now. I have learned a few things about rodents by this point: They establish track ways through a house, following the same paths each day: in, out, to food, to nest, and they can, in fact, rise up from the sewers.
Yes guys!! You’ve read that right! rodents have super swimming ability and flexibility that enable them to make their way easily from the city streets to your toilet. It sounds like a horror film. You go to sit down on the toilet and hear scratching coming from the pipes. All of sudden a rat jumps out from the water, desperately crawling its way out of the toilet bowl, which is now a horrific reality for all the city dwellers. Rats can swim for three days and are able to hold their breath underwater for up to three minutes.
Rodents can also crawl through the smallest of gaps. A rat’s ribs are hinged at the spine, allowing it to squeeze through spaces no bigger than a quarter. But how do they get into the toilet in the first place? Rats can easily sneak into grates or manhole covers open to the street. As disgusting as it may sound human faeces contain undigested food which the rats can feast upon, and if you plan to flush them out, you need to think again for a better solution. The rats can easily swim back out into the drainage system. Pass it on to your friends, and give them something to think about, perhaps, next time they are on the toilet.
