Toilet vent pipe….Frog?

Today I had to replace the boot on the toilet vent pipe up on the roof.  As I pushed one over the pipe above the master bathroom, the highest vent on the roof and furthest from any obvious ground access point, I looked in the pipe and saw a frog (maybe toad) looking back up at me.  How did it get there?  The ground, depending on which route it took is 20’ or 30’ above the ground.

I think the little critter was alive.  It was firmly planted on the inside of the pipe.  It was not in a great place for viewing, as the pipe was dim, but the low angle bright sunlight was right in my eyes.  I am pretty certain that it was actually a toad, but again, I couldn’t get a great view (it was maybe 8” inside the pipe).  And I think it was alive, but I didn’t exactly get any vital sides.

How/why did it craw up 20’+ and jump across a roof just to go down a vent pipe?  Do I have a breeding population of frogs/toads in my toilet?



Eric (a very confused Eric)

In my neck of the woods that would be a tree frog. They climb up windows, cars, and anything. They can go totally upside down, so he could have easily gotten up there, and vent stack is easy climbing.

Why is not a matter I know of, maybe the smells and heat attract some insects. Or it's out of the wind and might be a nice place to hide when it's cold.

John recently heard some noise in his bathroom.  I tried to tell him it was something in his vent pipe so maybe it was also a frog.

We did have a frog once swimming in that same toilet bowl—from where we never figured out unless this was the source.

But thanks both Anne and Pearl!


Eric

Eric Hanson wrote:We did have a frog once swimming in that same toilet bowl—from where we never figured out unless this was the source.

Well, if you are the kind of frog who wants to go up on the roof to see what's there, I can see wanting to go down the pipe to see what's there too. And water aint a dealbreaker for them...

Exploring frogs! Vent stacks, the final frontier!! (cue music)

My ecosystem has "tree frogs." Yes, they climb! I came face to face with one 10 feet up on my Scarlet Runner beans while picking from my orchard ladder. She didn't quite declare, "My bean plant, get your own!" but it was close.

However I have also heard them near the top of the downspout outside my bedroom. The house is built into a slope, so at most I would guess 12 ft up, but metal amplified frog calling doesn't improve my sleep!

What I find more amazing is when I find worms in my eves troughs. My only guess with them is a robin loosing it's catch?

A silly story about frogs in places....
I worked at a greenhouse, there were snakes and frogs. The frogs were fun, they got into stupid places. We called them all Freddy the (location) frog. So there was Freddy the Fridge Frog, Freddy the Faucet Frog, Freddy the Door Frog...

You have Freddy the Potty Frog!   :D

Pearl Sutton wrote:In my neck of the woods that would be a tree frog. They climb up windows, cars, and anything. They can go totally upside down, so he could have easily gotten up there, and vent stack is easy climbing.

Why is not a matter I know of, maybe the smells and heat attract some insects. Or it's out of the wind and might be a nice place to hide when it's cold.

I concur. Tree frogs can do all of that.
One of the oddest things I had ever noticed while working was a tree frog dried up and dead inside an energized electric meter base. When removing the meter, i noticed the frog. It was in contact with both the ground wire, and a 'hot leg'. The only way the poor frog could get to where it was would be through the weatherhead up high. There is just a tiny amount of space between the wire and the plastic part, but just enough for the frog to enter. I figured the coworkers wouldn't believe that one, so i took a pic....which I probably shouldn't post here.

I think tree frog too. If you could confirm toad, that would seem strange but I'd still believe you.

I bet it's pretty nice up there on the roof at night. Warmer? Maybe the vent also attract tasty insects or spiders as well.

Three frog sightings

Mystery Frog:
Late one night or in the wee hours of morning, driving the last mile home on a dirt road that paralleled a creek, I saw eye shine on the road ahead.  I slowed and as I drew nearer, I finally could see it was a frog, who did not hop away.

I got out to get a closer look.  Lit by the headlights, I could see it was a very large frog.  It was the classic tree frog shape, but HUGE!  Maybe 6 inches tall.  He was bigger than my hands.  

I picked him up, put him gently on the floor of the back seat, and drove the remaining 1/4 mile to my door.

I got him out, and put him under an overturned large terra cotta flower pot which I dampened with a hose.

In the morning I went out to take a look at him, but he was gone.

I doubted my memory, but I had felt the coolness with my hands. My body memory retained the substantial weight of him I had held in my hands.  The pot was where I had placed it in the night.

Eventually I convinced myself I had not hallucinated the event.  But for the life of me, I cannot figure out how he escaped from under the heavy flower pot.  

I lived there more than 6 years, was outside a lot, in the creek with my kids, and the very near by Salinas river, but I never saw another frog even closely resembling him.

To this day it remains a mystery, where he came from, how he got out from under the pot, and where he went.

Window Frogs:

Different house, same bio region.  The house was on the bank above and next to a seasonal creek.  At certain times of year, little frogs (less than 2 inch) would gather on the outside of the window.  It was a fixed pane window, no screen.  They just stuck themselves to the glass.

Inside, I had a lamp next to the window and of course flying insects were attracted.  It was a perfect frog buffet.

Porch Light Toad:

Decades  earlier, same bio region no creek, but half or 3/4 mile of hay fields between the house and the river, isolated situation.

There was a porch light outside the back door.  There was a concrete slab, and one night there was a toad there eating the insects that, having been attracted to the light, had beaten themselves against the hard surfaces until they fell to the ground.

And there sat the toad, also enjoying a bufffet dinner.

My daughter was stationed at Kessler Air Base in Biloxi, MS. We were headed home from a walk on the beach, and as we approached the house, we saw a heron standing next to the roof vent with a largish frog/toad in its beak. Yup, he stuffed it in the vent and flew off.  We never heard anything or had any issues, so we like to think he came back for it later. When we mentioned it to our friends and neighbors, they didn't seem surprised.

OK, it's not a frog.  But, my sister's washing machine was not draining down the drain and was throwing water onto the floor.
When my brother-in-law ran a drain snake through the drain line, he pulled out a dead squirrel.
That air vent pipe through the roof now has a screen over it.

Lots of different tree frogs in northern Australia. . . famous for living in toilets, under the rim, and emerging with the flush, and being quite vocal about it.*  It's unnerving in the middle of the night, in the dark, when only half awake.  I speak from experience 😰  Often there is no clear way that the little or not so little critters have accessed the  pipes.

* often nicknamed 'Clancy of the Overflow'  after a famous poem character.