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 (NBC News viewed screenshots of the threatening posts).
“I know they’re having fun, and I don’t want to be anyone’s party pooper, but also, get off my stoop,” she said. “This is my house. I’m just trying to have a quiet weekend at home, and this is a residential area.”
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 rat-shaped sidewalk hole is sure to be remembered alongside viral moments like “the dress” and pink sauce, but the swell of people looking to see the hole in person — and, in some cases, capitalize on its fame — showcases the unintended consequences of some viral hype.
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.
On Friday, the hole was mysteriously filled in with concrete, which the woman said she and her neighbors weren’t responsible for. The same day, onlookers dug the hole back out. Chicago police confirmed to NBC News that multiple calls had been made since Friday about people loudly congregating around the hole.
“I’m sad that it’s probably going to be removed now,” the woman said. “We liked the rat. We thought it was funny. We thought it was cute. I walked past it almost every day and smiled.
“We were never in favor of filling it in or removing it; we just wanted things to go back to normal. But sadly, I don’t think that’s going to happen at this point. It just got too big,” she said.
The rat hole has been filled with coins and surrounded by offerings, including a shrine, handmade signs, gifts and even estradiol pills, which are estrogen hormones. Over the weekend, the woman said a line formed down her street to see the hole.
“It kind of shows an interesting side of human nature, all of the different reactions that people have had to this, from building a shrine to it, making funny videos, but also trying to capitalize on it and trying to sell things,” she said. “They’re trying to get in on this phenomenon really quickly before it goes away so they can make a few bucks on it.”
The woman, who spotted multiple people taking selfies with the hole and pictures of it during the phone interview, said she has seen someone hold up a T-shirt that said “Rat hole 2024” for photos.
“It was only a matter of time, and it wasn’t even that much time before people started trying to make merchandise,” the woman said. “Anything you say online can be discovered, it can go viral, and when things go viral, you have no control over what’s going to happen.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
