Ah, rats!
Researchers think they debunked the origin of Chicago's so-called "rat hole," one of the Windy City's weirdest local landmarks.
The rat hole wasn't some back-alley bar that served as a speakeasy for the city's notorious gangster clientele or a tenement stuffed to the brim with junk. It was an impression of an unlucky critter that got trapped in wet sidewalk cement in the city's Roscoe Village neighborhood about 20 or 30 years ago. The imprint closely resembles that of a spread-eagled rat, complete with outlines of what appear to be tiny claws, arms and legs and even a tail.
The rat hole went viral early last year after comedian Winslow Dumaine posted a photo of it on the social media platform X. The post drew curious tourists to the site at all hours, with some leaving coins and other odd objects around the impression as a tribute.
The constant traffic drew complaints from neighbors, and in April 2024 someone filled the impression with a substance resembling plaster.
City workers eventually removed that slab of sidewalk and took it to the City Hall-County Building. A plaque honoring the rat hole remains at the actual site.
Researchers hailing from the University of Tennessee, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine and the University of Calgary published a paper this past week in the journal Biology Letters that concluded the rat hole was most likely created not by the titular rodent but a squirrel or muskrat.
The researchers studied online photos of the rat hole and compared measurements of the imprint to museum specimens of animals commonly found in the Chicago area. The presence of arms, legs and a tail excluded birds, snakes, frogs and turtles, shrinking the possibilities to a mammal. The claw outlines further reduced the field to rats, mice, squirrels, chipmunks and muskrats, the study said.
The iconic "rat hole" is seen Jan. 19, 2024, along the 1900 block of West Roscoe Street in the Roscoe Village neighborhood of Chicago.
The creature's long forelimbs, third digits and hind paws were too large for a rat but fell into the measurement ranges for Eastern gray squirrels, fox squirrels and muskrats. The most probable suspect is the Eastern gray squirrel, given how abundant that creature is in the Chicago area, the study concluded.
Other researchers theorized that a squirrel created the imprint, the study acknowledged. Cement is typically wet during the day, and rats are nocturnal and the creature didn't leave any tracks, suggesting a squirrel misjudged a leap or slipped from a branch and landed in the wet cement, the study noted.
The imprint didn't show any sign of a bushy tail, but hair often lacks the rigidity to create deep, well-defined impressions, and it would have been surprising to find such an imprint, the study said.
"We therefore propose that the specimen be rechristened the 'Windy City Sidewalk Squirrel' — a name more fitting of its likely origins and more aligned with the evidence at hand," they wrote.
Photos: Some colleges are welcoming animals to help students feel at home
Sophie Nocera, 21, a senior at Eckerd College, plays with her dog Zuco on Aug. 20 in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Sophie Nocera, 21, a senior at Eckerd College, plays with her dog Zuco in her college dorm Aug. 20 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Some colleges are allowing pets in dorms to help students feel more at home.
Sophie Nocera, 21, a senior at Eckerd College, walks into her dorm room with her dog Zuco on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Tina Russell)
Sophie Nocera, 21, a senior at Eckerd College, poses for a photo with her dog Zuco on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Tina Russell)
Sophie Nocera, 21, a senior at Eckerd College, plays with her dog Zuco on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Tina Russell)
Student Molly Cheer's cat, Louie, peers out of his shelter in her dorm room at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo.
Student Molly Cheer gives her pet comfort cat, Louie, a treat in her dorm room Aug. 25 at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo.
Student Molly Cheer gives her pet comfort cat, Louie, a treat in her dorm room at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)
Student Molly Cheer sits with her pet comfort cat, Louie, as she looks at upcoming course work in her dorm room Aug. 25 at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo.
