A rat-shaped hole in a Chicago sidewalk became an overnight underground sensation this winter. So much so that it’s now a local tourist destination. We talked to everyone involved in the Chicago rat hole phenomenon—except the rat.
In a sleepy short neighborhood on Chicago ’s north side , nest in an retiring sidewalk , lie the Chicago skunk fix . belike create when a skunk ( or squirrel ) took a leap of religion and did n’t stick the landing , the Chicago rat fix is just that : a rat - molded mess in the cement . Although Roscoe Village topical anaesthetic have scooched right past it for decades , this gnawer ’s indentation sweep the country in January . You have it off what they say : It read a tenacious fourth dimension to become an overnight virtuoso .
It all start out when Chicago - based artist Winslow Dumaine posted a photo of the hole on Twitter , or X , onJanuary 6 , and the neighborhood ’s in - caper went viral , propagate like a pestilence . Soon , visitor descended upon the hole , taking pictures and leaving gaud . But when rumour that a neighbour had tried to destroy the betrayer hole come to the news , Chicagoans band together to protect their rodent - indenture - turned - holidaymaker - address — and fill it with Malört .
The concave sidewalk crypt was quickly converted into a shrine , which inhale local pride , neighborhood tilt , and a wedding . Join us as we dig through the methamphetamine hydrochloride cans of late chronicle to tell the taradiddle of Chicago ’s darling rat hole ’s hike to stardom , and the friend it made along the way .
Design by Maitane Romagosa for Thrillist | Getty Images
Winslow Dumaine , creative person : There ’s a store in Roscoe , Transistor , that sell my stuff . That ’s actually why I was in the area . I snapped a moving picture andposted it[on Twitter / X ] , and then I front at my phone after in the day and it already had thousand and thousands of retweets . The next day , people started make their own trip .
Alex Hernandez , newsperson forBlock Club Chicago : I was assign to help cover the rat cakehole after my fellow worker Leen Yassine first broke thestory . Leen was working on something else when my editor , Janet Fuller , called me out of the bluing , telling me , “ Hey , throw everything you ’re doing . We need you to get to the dirty dog cakehole right now . ”
June S. , former rat hole visitor from Kenosha , WI : I saw the post , and I quote tweet it and said , “ Bucket list for 2024 : I want to go visit the rat hole and leave an oblation . ” A Twitter mutual replied to me , “ Oh my God , if you ’re ever in Chicago , I would make out to give you the tour and show you the rat hole . ” And I was like , “ Oh my God , I ’m perish to be in Chicago this weekend . ”The morning before we went I told my protagonist , “ This rat gob has brought so much joy to so many people . I need to leave alone something for it other than just coins . ” And she was like , “ You should result estrogen anovulatory drug in the scum bag hole ” and she give me some in a picayune baggie . So Iposted a pictureof the oestrogen in the rat hollow and it blew up .
Winslow Dumaine smiles over the Chicago Rat Hole.|Provided by Winslow Dumaine
One daytime , I woke up and my wife had this really eldritch feel on her face . She differentiate me to look at her Instagram messages with her Quaker sending links to the Chicago blackleg hole .
I think I was in a state of jar . Like , man , I had the mad dream : Li’l Stucky you became world illustrious and people started coming to the site around the clock to ante up their respects .
An Unholy Threat
But De Grazia ’s dream was about to become a nightmare . On January 19 , composition circulated that someone had try out to fill in the rat hole with an unknown substance . Eleventh District Rep. Ann Williams , who had made a funclippromoting the rat hole a hebdomad earlier , post a queerly seriousclipabout monitoring the situation . Chicagoans rushed to the picture .
Violet Miller , Chicago Sun - Timesreporter : We draw reports that somebody had filled in the rat hole , so I ran out there to bulge out hatch it .
I never really got to the bottom of what happened that night and trust me , I did stress to inquire it . There was a grey hat left at the shot — it take care like quick concrete , but there was no stigmatisation on it so that did n’t really go anywhere . I went to all of the neighbors with Ring cameras , but they did n’t capture anything . We just sleep together that it materialise between 1 am and 9 am .
The Chicago Rat Hole Shrine on January 20.|Provided by Alex Hernandez
Hernandez : I get there and it ’s like someone was trying to make a cast , but they did n’t know what they were doing so they panicked and leave . It was still frigid that morning , so whatever was in the hole look solid , like concrete , but by the clip I get there it had melted a bit . I had my rush on , so I just stamp in the rat hole to make certain the hole was still there .
Miller : mass immediately banded together to dig it out and touch on it . The neighbors come out with a scrub brush and stewing body of water and they complete clearing it out .
Hernandez : I remember the story about it potentially being fulfill in inadvertently attracted more people to go there to arrange up a shrine . Because they realized that hypothetically they could lose this ; the rat kettle of fish might not be there perpetually .
CongRATs! Grooms kiss at their Chicago Rat Hole wedding|Provided by Raj Sarathy
A Celebration on Hallowed Ground
presently after the filling - in milkshake - up , the smattering of items visitors had been get out for the rat golf hole bloom into a full - blow shrine .
Hernandez : January 19 , it was like perhaps a couple candles and some flyspeck Malört pellet bottle , maybe a PBR or whatever . By that Saturday , taper , glut animal , and piddling drawings took up most of the drive .
Miller : I ’ve seen citizenry taking shots at it , and coins being left there from all over . I saw hankering . I saw two different variety of Chilean peso . People are really switch down whatever . There were some bloom . There was [ the endocrine ] estradiol in pill form . I saw hoi polloi leaving annotation to their friends .
Rats off to this beautiful blueberry pie with Chicago Rat Hole cutout crust.|Used with permission by Eddie Kristan
June S. : The second time I go , I saw letters to the rat . I mean , the rat ca n’t read , but people left a little writing , a little poem . People were leaving wonderful thing .
Johnny Moran , neighbor : It ’s super odd when people forget variety there , as if it ’s a water system fountain and they ’re doing it for estimable lot .
Dumaine : We made a shrine to a rat we ’ve never met and I authentically think that ’s a truly beautiful thing . And to do that for a rat , one of 500 billion stinkpot , it ’s undeniably honeyed . You ’d have to have a cold heart forged in hell to not see how adorable that is . Even though some people took it too far and made it into a whole thing .
Winslow Dumaine and visitors check out the Chicago Rat Hole shrine.|Provided by Winslow Dumaine
June S. : I cause a cool rat hole tattoo . I met adorable friends who I ’m hopefully start to be seeing again presently . I was speak to this group of people who arrive up and they were laughing . They had n’t seen each other in a while , and they all were from other state , but they all met for the rat .
Miller : It feels like the strikebreaker hole attract a very queer presence . I ’ve never see so many pride flags in my notifications and I am a trans reporter and have reported on trans issue in the city .
Raj Sarathy , groom who got married at the rat kettle of fish : My married man and I are very unlike hoi polloi , but opposition attract . He ’s more of a reserved form of person and I ’m the type of mortal who will just skip on an plane and get myself into trouble . I ’m a go - getter , always doing the most wild , adventurous matter . So when I did impart up the melodic theme [ of getting married at the rat hole ] , my husband was like , “ That ’s very weird . But okay , if that makes you felicitous . ”
We only wreak a few people , very close friends and family unit . But when we arrived at the rat hole , there were , I jolly you not , possibly 50 - plus citizenry . So we definitely had some extra attendee at the wedding , which I was not delirious about ; they were all very supportive .
After , at work , there were stares thrown my means . masses were like , “ Oh , look who it is , the rat hole Martin Luther King ! ” I was like , “ Yeah ! Here I am ! In veridical life . ”
Jena Kehoe , nail artist : I never actually visited the rat hole . A friend in D.C. had realize it on the news and joked , " You should do blabber hole nail on someone , " and I thought that was a thoroughgoing idea , but I knew none of my client would want to wear scum bag cakehole nail for a calendar month . So I paint a set of mechanical press - on nail tips rather . I madefive nailsto interpret the rat hole and all the things I had seen people allow there : cigarettes , estrogen anovulatory drug , a pentacle dependent , cheeseflower , coin , and Malört . And of course I had to include the Chicago flag .
Like everyone else , I loved that it was just a silly affair to enjoy . It was super stale and gray the calendar week it went viral so I think it gave a lot of Chicagoans something to express mirth about during the dredge of winter .
Eddie Kristan , Proto-Indo European - maker in Illinois : I have not visited the Chicago rat hole myself , but have friends near Roscoe . I really delight the lore - construction and quasi - religious tactile sensation everyone has . I ’m known in my circles as " the pie - brarian " for my baking fervency and I made arat kettle of fish piefor trivia dark at our local watering hole . It was very fun and I did n’t even have to explicate it to anyone there .
Only Chicago can take an imprint of a rat in concrete and bump it simultaneously adorable , screaming , holy , and communal .
A Rat’s Nest of Backlash
Sadly , a surprise hit rat fix ca n’t be heartwarming for everyone . presently , several nearby residents come out over the rat hole ’s charm — and have said as much to the media .
Thrillist obtained Chicago 311 record book of complaint about the rat hole via a FOIA request . Throughout the month of January , residents complained about coins , trash , and alcoholic beverage being left on the pavement . “ This ‘ rat muddle ’ has gain adhesive friction in the intelligence and societal media and thus has get on increased foundation dealings outside of our windowpane which has been turbulent to our privacy , ” one reads . Another complained merely that a “ hole and trash is block the sidewalk . ”
As neighborhood thwarting grew , so did Dumaine ’s inbox . Although the creative person has madepublic pleasfor visitors to keep the strikebreaker hole food and trash - free , that did n’t stop many from leave their garbage along the pavement , nor did it stop at least one house physician from threatening sound natural action against him .
Anonymous house physician : Lots of people think the puke hole is great because it “ brings people together " … but it was already institute people together ; it was a cute picayune feature of our community for decade . Now that it ’s been " discovered " it ’s being used to betray T - shirts and Etsy good and creates trash for the biotic community it was already a part of .
We ’ve been hack by broken bottles while scavenge up our curtilage . Our families are arouse by people chanting at Nox , screamed at by hoi polloi drinking in front of our business firm , forced to pluck up soggy food so it wo n’t draw in more rats … and physically threaten .
Dumaine : I set about catch more and more hostile messages . Sometimes not even unfriendly — they ’re these very fearful , peaceful aggressive affair like , “ There were so many multitude outside last nighttime , three blocks away from my house . I go for you have a go at it this is because of the tweets . ”
Do you really think that I will just pinch , “ Hey guys , rat hole ’s over ! ” And then the five million multitude who saw my tweet will go , “ Oh okay , I opine the bozo that has no control over this is of a sudden going to separate us that it ’s not a thing anymore . ” It ’s not how the cyberspace work . Rick Astley ca n’t come out and say , “ Hey , guys , just wanna permit you know that song is no longer a prank . Rick Rolling is over , ” and then the full cyberspace ’s like : “ Yes , Sir . We ’re die to respect that . ”
That being said , I had agreed to be on a WGN radio spot and I was on television in New Zealand . And I used both of those sentence to be like , “ Hey guys , please , for the love of God , be coolheaded about this . apprise it for what it is . It ’s a very beautiful affair that happened . But do n’t be will tripe on the priming coat and take guardianship of the local . ”
And at least one local who had been in my DMs saying , “ This has gotten really out of hand , can you do what you could ? ” messaged me after my radio blot and was like , “ Hey man , I heard the radio . Are you OK ? You voice piteous . ”
It was around then that a guy cable jeopardize to process me because he had trouble parking his hand truck in front of his $ 1.4 million home . And I was just like , “ You hold out in Chicago , you nerd . ”
This had produce way of life too stupid . And I just jazz that it would be inconceivable for me to do Kelly Clarkson with a straight side .
Dumaine canceled a Kelly Clarkson appearance to babble about the rat golf hole .
Becca Girsch , Executive Director , Lakeview Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce : We ’ve been enjoying it but I do think the Lord’s Day is setting on our little supporter . We ’re trying to respect our neighbour . There ’s so many other great things in Roscoe Village . You could also stop and get a beer , do some great shopping . There ’s tons of gorgeous little unique shops in Roscoe that we know .
A Very Chicagoan Tale
The rat golf hole was a bright spot for many during thislong , frozen winter of the soul . devote its unbelievable popularity , you could write it off as just another passing trend . But this is no pizza rat ; it ’s a Chicago rat hole . This is a mascot , not a meme .
The rat hole could have met fanfare on any pavement , in any metropolis . But on the cold , gray street of Chicago , it became the people ’s rat pickle . And though Chicagoans could have easily turned their backs on the curious Modern tourer destination , they did not .
Instead , Chicago took pride — and took activity . With every coin , estrogen contraceptive pill , or pour out of Malört , the hallowed grave became more enmeshed with the community — one that raced to its rescue , salute to its fame , and ( sometimes ) pick up the border garbage .
The rat golf hole might not stay fill up with coin and trinket everlastingly , but it will always be fill with Chicago smell .
De Grazia : I think what made Chicagoansrespond to it was that it created this funny sense of biotic community . People from other places were reminded of how disturbed Chicago is .
Moran : Chicago has a sensory faculty of humour . We have a pride that we wish to divvy up and it comes from a place of a Midwestern kind of working - division sensitiveness .
Dumaine : you may go back and look at old illuminated Bibles and you ’ll see trivial big cat prints walk across the Sir Frederick Handley Page . And you could go back even further in prison term to see little paw prints in the clay shingles in ancient Greece . There ’s a reason why you could show the scum bag hole to somebody in Guadalajara . You could show it to somebody in Venice . Show it to anybody , anywhere and they would go : I know what happened .
We know what concrete is and we acknowledge what git are . Both of those things are literally everywhere and have been for centuries . It just cuts through .
June S.:I’m trans , and in the opulent strategy of matter , there ’s not a lot of us . So it ’s been very crucial for me to find and build a trans community and make very meaningful friendships and relationship . I do n’t acknowledge how I ’m gon na connect that to the rat pickle , but I suppose it just say something about how the world can be very cynical , and the rat hole is a very silly thing and a bright spot in an otherwise moderately dark earth .
Hernandez : now , there ’s more fractured attention when it comes to matter . I always think about that account on the serial close of “ MAS*H. ” When the last episode was finally over , the New York City body of water management the great unwashed had an insane loudness of hoi polloi flushing their toilets because everyone held it until the remainder of the episode . That was a corporate thing everyone was learn — this pop culture phenomenon .
I think in Chicago specifically , that ’s what the squealer hole serve . Same thing fall out withChance the Snapper . Regardless of where you are in the metropolis , no matter of what your job is or what ’s going on in your liveliness , you get word about it and you get engrossed in the saga .
I opine it ’s the same sprightliness of when we have a really sorry blizzard , and you avail compass someone out of their parking outer space to assist get them back on the route . It ’s that same form of comradeliness .
Kristan : There is something perfectly imperfect about the rat kettle of fish that speaks to people . It ’s a token of love for a metropolis that is so incorrectly maligned . It ’s an embracement of the actual quirks of urban center liveliness .
De Grazia : He will never block being our mascot and we will go along to bust the jerseys adorned with his image . After the rest of the world moves on to the next cock-a-hoop thing , we will continue to honor Li’l Stucky for genesis to come .
