A rat king is a rare occurrence in which a group of rats — sometimes as few as seven rats, sometimes more — becomes bound together at the tails, often by horse hair, sticky substances or even blood.
This bizarre phenomenon usually occurs in confined spaces such as sewers, basements, or nests, where rats are close enough for this entanglement to happen.
Some scientists speculate that the rats’ grasping reflex causes them to inadvertently tangle and stay bound for an extended period, especially when panicking or injured. Once caught, the rats may remain alive, struggling together to survive — a biological and social nightmare tangled into one creature.
