The Rat King is an extremely rare phenomenon, believed to be a harbinger of impending pandemics.
Recently, a viral video on the internet has sparked fear among many people in Northern Europe about a potential disaster. Specifically, the video shows a resident of Estonia discovering a phenomenon where a group of rats had their tails stuck together while visiting a chicken coop.
This is an incredibly rare and mysterious phenomenon that has occurred only 60 times in over 500 years. You can even find images or preserved specimens in various museums in Germany (the German term for this phenomenon is Rattenkönig) or other European countries such as France, Poland, and Belgium.
The mysterious “Rat King” phenomenon causing concern among Northern Europeans.
At the Mauritianum Museum in Altenburg, Thuringia, Germany, there is a preserved specimen of the largest “Rat King,” consisting of 32 rats with their tails intertwined, found in 1828 in the fireplace of a miller living in the municipality of Buchheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
The rats can become entangled due to congenital factors, but they may also stick together due to blood, mucus, or waste materials. The number of rats stuck together can range from a few to several dozen.
Historically, Germany has recorded this phenomenon the most, with the first case documented in 1564. It was seen as an omen of a disaster or pandemic about to occur, most notably the Black Death in the 14th century in Europe.
The Black Death is one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, reducing Europe’s population by 30% to 60%, attributed to rats on merchant ships carrying the disease.
However, the truth about this phenomenon remains a mystery. The Rat King continues to be an unresolved issue in Cryptozoology—a pseudoscience aimed at proving the existence of entities from folklore.
