A rat-shaped hole in a Chicago sidewalk has become a viral sensation, attracting thousands of visitors to the neighborhood street it occupies. That has tormented the people who actually live there, according to a woman whose home is just feet away from the impression, and resulted in numerous calls to police.
“I told someone it felt like I was living on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, because people were out there drinking, yelling, playing music and taking pictures of drugs on the ground next to the rat hole for clout,” the woman said. She spoke on the condition of anonymity, in part because violent threats about destroying the hole have been made online.
The rat-shaped hole, which is more of an impression in concrete — and has been speculated to actually be a squirrel-shaped hole — has been a local oddity for years. The viral frenzy around it kicked off on Jan. 6, after a post on X about it was viewed more than 5 million times, according to X’s metrics. Over two weeks later, the hype has only escalated. Chicago officials, the Chicago Bulls’ mascot and several news anchors have made appearances at the rat hole. A proposal, a wedding and a shrine have all appeared at it.
“This isn’t the first time people have posted pictures of it online. So I don’t know why it had to take off so crazy this time,” the neighbor said.
The neighbor of the rat hole posted a plea on the Chicago subreddit Monday for people to “stop congregating, partying, and getting married in front of our house.” She described trash piling up, vandalism, loud noise at all hours, constant recording resulting in a loss of privacy and even missed package deliveries because the post office can’t access her house. NBC News reviewed a Postal Service tracking notification the woman received that said her address was inaccessible.
After neighbors complained, the rat hole may be removed. The woman said one of her neighbors got in touch with their local alderman, who said he was asking the Chicago Transportation Department about the possibility of removing the concrete sidewalk slab containing the rat hole. On Tuesday, the woman said, she observed city workers in yellow safety vests measuring the sidewalk. The alderman’s office and the city Transportation Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
