A rat’s ribs are hinged at the spine, enabling it to easily squeeze through the tightest spaces—like the pipes draining your toilet. And rats are great swimmers too; they can hold their breath for up to three minutes. See how quickly a rat can go from the city streets to your bathroom.
source/image: National Geographic
Rats also can get through tiny gaps–A rat’s ribs are hinged at the spine, meaning they can get through spaces as small as a quarter in size. All the rat needs to do is get its head through.
As scary as it sounds, it actually does happen. But how the heck does a rat get inside one? This video from National Geographic is about to show you. By cutting a toilet in half and filming the results, viewers learn how someone might just get a “toilet rat”.
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The underwater passage leaves little room for error, but the rat can find pockets of air along the way through the pipes and workings of the toilet base. It can then bend its body and contort it to squeeze through even the smallest of openings.Their sharp claws allow the rats to scale almost any vertical surface with ease.
