A rat king is a collection of rats whose tails are intertwined and bound together by one of several possible mechanisms. Historically, this alleged phenomenon is particularly associated with Germany. There are several specimens preserved in museums but very few instances of rat kings have been observed in modern times. A similar phenomenon with squirrels has been observed, which has had modern documented examples.
About Rat king in brief
A rat king is a collection of rats whose tails are intertwined and bound together by one of several possible mechanisms. Historically, this alleged phenomenon is particularly associated with Germany. There are several specimens preserved in museums but very few instances of rat kings have been observed in modern times. A similar phenomenon with squirrels has been observed, which has had modern documented examples. In folklore, rat kings are associated with various superstitions and were often seen as a bad omen. The existence of this phenomenon is debated due to the limited evidence of it occurring naturally. Another concern is the possibility that some of the centuries-old preserved museum specimens could be fabricated, such hoaxes being common in the medieval era. A possible explanation is that the long flexible tail of the black rat could be exposed to sticky substances, such as sebum, sap or food, as a bonding agent. Once they are bound, they would struggle and get tighter and the knot would get tighter. This explanation is given that most cases were found during winter and confined spaces.
In the nest, they form a form of a ‘shipo’, where they hold onto the nest and hold on with their tails. Some theories, according to some rats, are that they have a grasping reflex, so are able to hold onto their tails so tightly. This is possible, but it is also possible, while theoretically, rats would barely be able to survive, while the rats in the nest would be barely able to grasp the knot. The earliest report of rat king comes from 1564. Most extant examples are formed from black rats. Specimens of purported rat kings are kept in some museums. The largest well-known mummified rat king was found in 1828 in a miller’s fireplace at Buchheim. It consists of 32 rats. A rat king found in 1930 in New Zealand, displayed in the Otago Museum in Dunedin, was composed of immature black rats whosetails were entangled by horse hair. A squirrel king of six squirrels stuck together with pine sap was found in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in June 2013.
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This page is based on the article Rat king published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 25, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
