The Rat King: On the Fascinations (and Revulsions) of Rattus

In what he calls "an Experiment in Controlled Digression," Mark Dery touches on xenogastronomy, ortolan, Edible Dormouse, Victor Hugo's fondness for rat pâté, rat-baiting as a betting sport in Victorian times, the rat as New York's unofficial mascot, Luis Buñuel's pet rat, scientific research into such pressing questions as whether rats laugh, and whether rats will inherit the Earth as a result of climate change, Dracula's dominion over rats, and of course the (cryptozoological myth? well-documented phenomenon?) of the Rat King.

A rat king is a hellish entanglement of rats that are bound together by their tails

Rat king - Wikipedia

The Complicated, Inconclusive Truth Behind Rat Kings - Atlas Obscura

Chicago Reader print issue of October 19, 2023 (Vol. 53, No. 1) by Chicago Reader - Issuu

More than a dozen rodents discovered with their tails tied together in rare 'rat king' sighting, Climate

Rat king caught on camera: 'Extremely rare phenomenon signals impending PLAGUE, Weird, News

Pin de ELV en Rats! Ratas, Recetas de limpieza, Recetas

Gruesome 'rat king' made up of 13 rodents whose tails were intertwined is discovered in Estonia

Satan's Fetus Stalks the Suburbs – Mark Dery

Tumblr Rat king, Weird world, Creepy