Fur is flying on an Illinois street as annoyed neighbors go to war over the future of Chicago’s famous Rat Hole.
The decades-old footprint of an unfortunate rodent preserved in the concrete of a Roscoe Village paver went viral in January after comedian Winslow Dumaine posted a photo to his X account.
Thousands of tourists gathered to pay homage to this curious outline, with one couple even getting married there.
But the crowd infuriated some on the residential street and the footprint was filled with cement a second time on Wednesday – only for rat fans to dig it up each time.
“It’s just kind of sad that someone would do this,” neighbor Cindy Nelson told the Chicago Tribune. “Let it just be joyful.”
There wasn’t much left of the Chicago Rat Hole after a disgruntled neighbor filled it with cement Tuesday night, much to the dismay of its fans.
The rat-shaped print went viral after local artist and comedian Winslow Dumaine (pictured) posted a photo of it on X, formerly known as Twitter, on January 6.
The image, which shows a splayed rat print on the sidewalk, was accompanied by text that read: “I had to make a pilgrimage to the Chicago Rat Hole.”
The neighborhood awoke to find that the unknown objector had struck during the night, but by mid-afternoon rat fans had emptied the filling with spoons and license plates.
“I’m glad they did it,” said Emma Cheski, a 25-year-old resident.
“All the neighbors love it. It’s always been a fun part of the street.
Online discussions about the rat hole date back at least a decade, with speculation about its origin sparking heated debate.
And some heretics have suggested that the print might not be that of a rat at all.
“It definitely looks more like a squirrel than a rat,” one observer commented. “And I say that as someone who was bitten by a squirrel.”
“No…it’s a squirrel…I live in the village of Roscoe and we did some research…It’s a squirrel…” agreed another.
“You can tell by the footprints next to it. »
“I took a picture of this same footprint a few months ago, and I’m sorry but it’s not a squirrel. It’s a big Chicago rat,” someone else said.
A few days after Dumaine’s tweet, the hole in the concrete had become a sanctuary dedicated to the rat.
Others who have made the pilgrimage to the famous rat hole have left offerings at the rodent’s footprint.
Visitors left little trinkets, like this fake rodent, in Chicago’s now-famous shithole.
Its notoriety has made it one of the symbols of the city and one of the viral sensations of 2024.
“Alternative theory: somewhere, a construction worker with a strange sense of humor and little concern for the quality of his work is keeping a rubber rat with his masonry tools,” a fourth person joked.
Winslow guessed that it was probably a “perfect combination of factors” that resulted in the rodent’s print.
“The cement was obviously very wet for a rat to land that deep in there,” he told Book Club Chicago.
“It probably just landed, then got covered in cement, then crawled.” Because there are small scratches near the hole.
People brought cheese, coins, bottles of alcohol and flowers to the site, with some even creating shrines to the rat and in memory of their own beloved pets.
But some residents have been exasperated by the amount of rubbish they have left in their wake, warning it could attract much livelier rodents.
Local politicians have suggested moving the slab to a nearby park or even auctioning it off for charity.
But interest has been seized by local businesses who have launched a range of rat-related souvenirs.
And other cities have taken note of the enthusiasm, with some beginning to think about neglected attractions of their own, including Stumpy, the malformed cherry tree in DC, and the frog hole in St. Charles, Missouri.
“My favorite thing is people saying, ‘Oh, I have an animal den on my street.’ “It’s like, ‘Oh, look at that frog print,'” said Gabrielle Plascak, 31, who lives next door.
“But you can’t outsmart the rat.” It’s the OG.
The hole was first filled with a plaster-like substance a few days after it became known.
But Rat fans quickly managed to restore it to its former glory
Pest control company Orkin even named Chicago the “seediest” city in the country in 2023.
Whoever filled the gap remained anonymous due, some say, to fear of reprisals.
But rat fans on the street aren’t impressed with their efforts.
“It was just a big splash of cement on top,” Plascak said.
“They didn’t even fill the line. I was like, “Couldn’t you at least fix this for us?”