Sometimes, folks look for “signs” as to whether or not they should make a big life decision. If you’re buying a car and the sales agent has the same name as your ex-girlfriend who dumped you for a Cutco knife salesman, maybe you’ll head to another dealership as a superstition.
Or, if within minutes of moving into a new apartment, you discover that there are rats emerging from your toilet, you’ll probably want to get out of Dodge and find a new place to live.
The latter is what happened to TikToker Catherine Mulder (@thecatherinemulder) just seconds after she entered her new place for the first time and got her water turned on.
She flushed the toilet to test and make sure everything was working correctly when she heard a loud sound. After she inspected the bathroom further to see what was going on, she was met with a furry friend.
Mulder uploaded her experience encountering the rats emerging from her toilet in a viral clip that’s garnered over 479,000 views on the platform as of Monday afternoon.
@thecatherinemulder paid $2300 for some trauma & bonus roommates lol #greenscreenvideo #fyp #rats #traumatok #ItsGreatOutdoors ♬ original sound – CMULDS
“Y’all I literally just moved into this apartment, 25 seconds ago,” a frustrated Mulder says into the camera as she records and moves about the place. “Put those keys in the door and unlocked it. I went and flushed the toilet ’cause I just had the water turned on, heard a loud thud.”
She then begins to reach for something off-camera before wincing and pulling her hand back. “I’m literally shaking right now,” she adds.
The clip then transitions to her opening the door to the bathroom, which shows a little rat perched up on the toilet seat of her new place. “And this dude came out of the toilet. Came out of the toilet!” Mulder shouts.
Then a second rat can be seen trying to climb up the bowl, which prompts her to scream, shut the door, and walk away off-camera. “I’m moving the f*ck—I’m out. I’m out,” she concludes, grabbing her keys as the video abruptly cuts out.
She adds in a caption for the video: “paid $2300 for some trauma & bonus roommates lol”
According to Mulder’s TikTok profile, she specified that she lives in Texas. According to CBS’ list of America’s 50 most rat-infested cities, two of them are located in the Lone Star state: Dallas and Houston.
You’re probably wondering how not just one, but two, rats found their way into Mulder’s new apartment via the toilet drain, but there are plenty of examples on the internet demonstrating just how easy it is for these slippery rodents to make it up a pipe and get inside of your living space.
One might also think that the reason why they were able to gain access to Mulder’s apartment is because the water had been turned off for so long, so
If the water had been turned off for quite a while, perhaps the rats were able to chill in a dry and cool drainage pipe as their little rat hideaway. Regardless, rats can also hold their breath for up to three minutes underwater. So even if there is flowing water constantly going through your drains, there’s still a possibility that rats and mice can find their way up your pipes.
According to Malum Southern Pest & Bird Control, the number one reason why a rat would come up out of your toilet is to search for food. If in their explorations they’ve discovered that your home has an accessible food source, then you might want to seal any foodstuffs and regularly throw away your trash.
Terminix also states that if you’ve encountered rodents coming up your pipes, there isn’t really much you can do to stop it on your own. It would be a job for an exterminator. Unless you have access to one of those long, snake cams to check out where the rats are coming from to diagnose the problem, you’re probably better off consulting with an expert.
Or you could just move out like Mulder plans to.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Mulder via TikTok comment for further information.
