How'd he get in there?! Help solve the mystery of the drowned mouse (1 Viewer)

[Brennan77]

So this is a first.

I'm vegging out in the tub after getting the kid to bed. My wife complains that the toilet is running and that everything seems to need to be fixed lately. (The house is 8 years old now so I've been having to repair a few things lately) I absently tell her to jiggle the handle and to remove the lid if that doesn't fix it. She screams. Hilarity ensues.

There's a dead mouse in the toilet tank. His tail is keeping the stopper from sealing. The worst part is I swear I heard something a couple of days ago that sounded like a mouse near the toilet. Now I know. The best part is that he's been removed and the toilet needs no repairs.

So....how'd he get in there? There's no external evidence around the toilet or house to suggest a mouse. Could he have come up the plumbing somehow?!

 

[Charlie Brizzown]

I’ve read stories of people who do strange things like this around the house just for kicks. A form of paranormal gaslighting. Keep a skeptical eye on the wife and kids.

 

[Bill]

Your dead mouse must have been tired of jiggling the toilet handle after use, so he likely went in the tank to try and fix it.
Too bad he got his tail caught and he drowned. He seems to have been looking in the right area to do the job right.

 

[Madmarsha]

Grumpy cat had recently murdered his whole family and he just couldn't go on without them so he drowned himself in your toilet. I mean, it's not hard to figure out.

 

[zeetes]

at my old house, um, i used the garage disposal and heard a squeak scream, quit, saw a tail poke out of the rubber. since it was already dead, i disposaled that beotch.

sue me animal activists.

 

[Madmarsha]

Honestly, when you think about how hermetically sealed our houses aren't, who knows how he -- or they -- got in. The cartoon mousehole is an anomaly. They can get through really TIGHT spaces.

 

[Brennan77]

Honestly, when you think about how hermetically sealed our houses aren't, who knows how he -- or they -- got in. The cartoon mousehole is an anomaly. They can get through really TIGHT spaces.

Nice usually leave a trail if engaging in regular activity. This appears to be a one off situation which is why I'm a bit perplexed. That said, there's been some recent construction in the area that has upped the visible rodent activity on the block.

 

[Bill]

Honestly, when you think about how hermetically sealed our houses aren't, who knows how he -- or they -- got in. The cartoon mousehole is an anomaly. They can get through really TIGHT spaces.

Well, you should know. You recently had some folks living in your attic.
So, if something wants to get in bad enough, just expect that they will be hanging around somewhere inside.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Same way you get anywhere in life: practice, practice, practice

 

[COsaintsfan]

I for one welcome our new gill developed mice overlords.

Unless he held his breath and swam for a while, no idea. That is perplexing.

 

[whodatbe]

Mice and rats can flatten themselves, because they have kind of of a collapsible rib cage, so any little space and they can get in. Though who doesn't love a somewhat happy ending like Bill said.

 

[Brennan77]

I for one welcome our new gill developed mice overlords.

Unless he held his breath and swam for a while, no idea. That is perplexing.

Well that's the thing. It's not like there is anything to climb on to get into the tank from the top. He must have come through a pipe. Crazy!

 

[gboudx]

Maybe it was hiding from the snake hiding/hibernating in your house.

 

[Madmarsha]

Well, you should know. You recently had some folks living in your attic.
So, if something wants to get in bad enough, just expect that they will be hanging around somewhere inside.

I wouldn't mind IF they were paying me rent.

 

[Brennan77]

My current theory is this...

Somehow the rodent got into the sewerage.

Rodent comes up the pipe and into the toilet bowl.

He can't get out of the toilet bowl so swims up the syphon jet.

Once in the internal space around the rim he made his way to the back of the toilet and up through the flapper valve into the tank.

But I don't think he would have been able to just open the flapper valve against the water pressure above. I think he would have had to wait until it was flushed to make his way up. That means our toilet has had a mouse in it for a bit. Ack! We should probably move.