Another apparent Chicago ‘rat hole’ goes viral on Reddit – NBC Chicago

Months after an apparent rat print on a Chicago sidewalk went viral and garnered national attention before it was eventually removed, a sighting of a second “rat hole” in Chicago was reported on Reddit.

A post late Thursday afternoon on the r/chicago subreddit shows what appears to be the imprint of a small rodent's head and four feet on a sidewalk.

And what makes it even more mysterious? The poster didn't provide any clues as to where the hole was, and commenters seemed to agree.

“Take this with you to the grave! Don’t give away the location!” was the most popular comment on the post.

The original Chicago rat hole went viral in January when a footprint that had long been a feature of a block in the city's Roscoe Village neighborhood gained new fame after a Chicago comedian shared a photo of it on social media platform X.

The imprint became something of a small tourist attraction, attracting visitors at all times of the day, who often left objects behind and used the hole as a makeshift memorial.

“Someone tweeted that they were making a pilgrimage to the rat hole, and then all of a sudden we saw a lot of people walking by with their cameras and flowers and a bunch of other things,” resident Michael Risher, who has lived in the area for several years, said in January. “I think there might have been some money left over.”

Cindy Nelson, who has lived across the street from the imprint for more than 20 years, told the Chicago Sun-Times at the time: “I don't want to disappoint or upset anyone, but it's a squirrel.”

As for the alleged second rat hole, its location and background are unknown. Of course, one may wonder if the picture was even taken in Chicago.

Since there is only one post about the image on the Chicago subreddit, the mystique will continue until more is seen.