Wherever there is a rat king, people must be cautious.
Ask 10 people, and 9 will say they fear rats, so it’s not an exaggeration to say that rats are among the most frightening creatures on the planet.
And it’s understandable, as rats… are very dirty, and they are associated with disease, particularly serious pandemics like the Black Death in Europe and Asia during the 14th century.
The Black Death pandemic. (Illustrative image).
And you know, rats can also frighten you in another way, if this phenomenon occurs. It bears a rather strange name: Rat King – and it is a phenomenon that, to be honest, no one wants to see.
Rat King – A Strange and Rare Phenomenon
Hearing the name “Rat King”, many might picture a large rat, extraordinarily intelligent, capable of dominating a huge horde of rats.
But no! The Rat King refers to a rare and bizarre phenomenon within a group of rats. This occurs when a large number of rats become somehow stuck together by their tails, potentially due to blood, dirt, or even feces and urine.
Here is your Rat King.
The term “Rat King” actually originates from the German word – “Rattenkonig,” a term that is derogatory, referring to individuals who rely solely on others. In Germany, a notable number of “Rat Kings” have been recorded.
In 1564, the first Rat King appeared, consisting of 25 brown rats. However, since then, subsequent Rat Kings have almost exclusively been made up of black rats or sewer rats, with the most recent Rat King being documented in 1986 in Vendée, France.
Ominous Signs and Dangerous Indicators
Historically, Rat Kings have always been considered ominous, instilling fear in the majority of the population. They are often killed immediately upon discovery or taken by priests for purification rituals.
But aside from superstition, this truly is a bad sign for the community.
Why? Because Rat Kings typically occur in extremely filthy environments, and only when the rat population is escalating at an alarming rate. As we know, rats are vectors for extremely frightening diseases such as plague—the cause of millions of deaths in the past.
So if you happen to come across a Rat King, it is likely that everyone must join forces to eradicate this “destructive pest” before it’s too late.
The world’s largest Rat King, displayed at the Mauritianum Museum in Altenburg, Germany.
Being considered an omen, Rat Kings are often killed immediately. This is why there are so few living specimens. Currently, there are 35 to 50 preserved Rat King specimens in various natural history museums. One of the largest mummified Rat Kings is on display at the Mauritianum Museum in Altenburg, Germany. It dates back to 1828 and consists of 32 individuals entangled together, found in Buchheim, Germany.
Many people are skeptical about the natural existence of Rat Kings. They argue that if rats become entangled, it is likely that they would chew off each other’s tails or find a way to break free to survive. This leads to the speculation that Rat Kings are actually hoaxes created by humans, similar to how some medieval merchants glued bat wings onto lizards to create dragons or the Fiji mermaid in Japan, which consisted of a monkey’s upper body sewn to a fish’s tail.
Interestingly, the “tail entanglement” phenomenon can also happen with smaller rodents like house mice, or even with closely related species like squirrels, although this is rarer.
Experts help three squirrels separate their tails.
