Months after the apparent impression of a rat on a Chicago sidewalk went viral and attracted nationwide attention before eventually being removed, the sighting of a second Chicago “rat hole” has been reported on Reddit.
A post from late Thursday afternoon in the r/chicago subreddit shows what appears to be the impression of a small rodent’s head and four feet on a sidewalk.
Adding to the mystery? The poster offered no clues as to where the hole was located, and commenters seemed to agree with that approach.
“Take this to your grave! Do not reveal the location!” the most upvoted comment on the post said.
The original Chicago rat hole went viral in January, when an imprint that had long been a quirk on a block of the city’s Roscoe Village neighborhood found fresh fame after a Chicago comedian shared a photo on the social media platform X.
The imprint became a small tourist attraction of sorts, attracting visitors at all hours of the day, who often left behind items, treating the hole as a makeshift memorial.
“Someone tweeted out that they were making a pilgrimage to see the rat hole and then all of a sudden we saw a bunch of people walking past with their cameras and flowers and a bunch of different things,” resident Michael Risher, who has lived in the area for several years, said in January. “I think there might be some money left by it.”
Cindy Nelson, who has lived across the street from the imprint for over 20 years, told the Chicago Sun-Times at the time, “I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble or upset anybody, but it’s a squirrel.”
As for the purported second rat hole, the location and background remains unknown, with it of course being fair to wonder if the picture was even taken in Chicago.
With just one post in the Chicago subreddit discussing the picture, the mystique will continue until more is seen.