posted 07/22/10 12:10 AM | updated 07/21/10 10:53 PM
Views: 2212 | Comments : 9 | News, etc.

Capitol Hill: Rat-in-toilet free zone

By Frances E. Dinger
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If you have lived on the Hill for any length of time, there is probably a good chance you have seen a street rat or two but another species of rats, sewer rats, are not a common concern, according to reports collected by Seattle and King County Public Health.

Capitol Hill has the fewest reported cases of sewer rats crawling into toilets as compared to other Seattle neighborhoods but the health department only documents cases of rats in toilets that are reported to them, so the numbers are not necessarily an accurate picture of which neighborhoods have the most sewer rats.

"One could assume there are sewer rats in every neighborhood," said King County Department of Health spokesperson Hillary Karasz.

Still, the situation regarding reported Hill toilet rats seems to be better than the Capitol Hill bed bug information we shared last week.

Smells of food lead rats out of the sewers and into homes but kitchen sink pipes are too narrow for rats to squeeze through and the toilet is the next best route.

"One thing that attracts rats is if people are using their garbage disposals," Karasz said. "It's kind of a mistake that they end up in the toilet."

And rats do not just strike dirty homes. The Sun Break reported an increasingly number of rats entering Seattle homes in neighborhoods with varying economic backgrounds.

The Great Recession has been a boon to toilet-dwelling rats, it seems. The number of complaints--from people staring back at beady little eyes in their toilet--increased by about 32 percent from 2008 to 2009, from 57 rats-in-toilet (RIT) to 84!

Karasz and the KCDOH recommend any person who finds rats in a toilet close the lid and pour a little liquid detergent in the water to break surface tension, making it more difficult for the rat to stay afloat--and also call pest control. The KCDOH also has a rat baiting program for rats found in toilets.

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rat bastards
Of my 12 years on the hill I've only even heard of one rat-in-the-toilet.

And that was a really old basement apt and the landlord didn't give a rat's ass...
Comment by Me
July 22, 2010
Urban Myth
Everyone knows that Pioneer Square is where the King Rat's nest is hidden. I say we march down on thar, brandishing torches, and eradicate our fair city of this vermin once and for all. Do we need to apply for a permit?
Comment by Gaea
July 22, 2010
Happened to me
About 2 years ago when I lived in a house on 14th and Denny, my roommates and I got back from a night out to discover a rat in the toilet. Our house was super old (190-something), and the rat did manage to get back down the toilet after much flushing and frantic yelling. Either way, we did report it(didn't know you could), and we always kept the lid down after taht.
Comment by CapHill
July 22, 2010
RE: Happened to me
*DIDN'T report it.
Comment by CapHill
July 22, 2010
they're here
I used to live in a tiny old house on 17th and Jefferson. One night when it was raining heavily, I heard a noise from the bathroom. The toilet lid was down, and I happened to have set a heavy fan on top of it (I was moving some things around). Now the fan was shaking wildly, and I was hearing a frantic scurrying from inside the toilet. I knew what it was, and I flushed the toilet about ten times before I worked up the nerve to open the lid (I'm terrified of rats). Nothing was there; the rat had been flushed back down.
I didn't report it, because I heard they use poison. The problem with poison is that the rat gets sick and slows down, becoming an easier target for cats, falcons, and hawks-- who would then be ingesting the poison along with the rat. I suspect this happens as much in Capitol Hill as anywhere, but that people in Capitol Hill are less likely to report it (for a number of reasons). Also, it almost always happens with toilets that are either at or below street level. Since Capitol Hill has a lot of apartments at upper levels, I would guess this reduces the per capita incidence.
By the way, I kept that house perfectly clean, but the rats were always scurrying around in the attic and walls at night in search of warmth. I basically didn't sleep for a year.
Comment by scared of rats
July 22, 2010
RE: they're here
Similar story happened to me in 2006 at my former house at 20th and Jefferson. Maybe they prefer the CD?
Comment by Louis
July 22, 2010
simply
yuk yuk yuk - hate them
Comment by Mike with curls
July 22, 2010
A few ounces of prevention
Rats follow the smell of food in drains.
To cut grease and sludge that are trapping those smells.
Pour 1/4 cup of baking soda down the drain followed by 1/4 cup vinegar.

If this doesn't clean out odors you may need some heavy duty cleaning from a product like "citrasolv".

If you still have odors or slow drains then you likely have a plumbing problem.
Comment by Fox Plumbing
July 23, 2010
re: A few ounces of prevention
Forgot to mention after the baking soda and vinegar pour 4 - 5 cups of boiling water down the drain.
Comment by Fox Plumbing
July 23, 2010