It turns out that the iconic “Chicago Rat Hole” is not, in fact, a rat.

In 2024, the cartoonish impression of a rat-looking animal in a slab of concrete in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood turned into a viral sensation and unlikely pilgrimage site. The hole became so well known that it even caught the attention of researchers, who decided to investigate the matter scientifically. The results are in and potentially shocking—the Chicago Rat Hole was probably made by a squirrel.

An incorrect assumption

“With such remarkable preservation, the ‘Chicago Rat Hole’ was named based on the assumption that the original imprint-maker was an unfortunate brown rat ( Rattus norvegicus ), a species quite common in urban centres, that met its end soon after a fresh layer of sidewalk concrete was

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