17th–18th-century naturalists proposed many hypotheses to explain this phenomenon. Another concern is the possibility that some of the centuries-old preserved museum specimens could be fabricated, such hoaxes being common in earlier eras. The existence of this phenomenon is debated due to the limited evidence of it occurring naturally, although the discovery of a live instance in Estonia in 2021 is considered to be proof that it is a natural, albeit extremely rare, phenomenon. Rat kings have been reported from Germany, Belgium, Estonia, Java, and New Zealand, with the majority of cases reported from the European countries. The knot caused some tissue damage to their tails. Some surrounding nest material, grass, and plastic got further entangled with them. In 2018, five juvenile grey squirrels were found in Wisconsin, US. A squirrel king of six squirrels stuck together with pine sap was found in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in June 2013. They were found alive in some cases, and veterinarians have had to separate them as the squirrels could potentially starve or be eaten by a predator. Instances of squirrel kings have been reported. The rat king will be added to the Tartu University Museum of Zoology collection. Before that, scientists were able to film the rat king alive. The rat king was brought to Tartu University and humanely euthanized because the rats had no way of freeing themselves. On October 20, 2021, a live rat king of 13 rats was found in Põlvamaa, Estonia. In 2021, a living "rat king" of five mice was caught on video (and untangled to save the mice) near Stavropol, Russia. One 2005 sighting comes from an Estonian farmer in Saru, of the Võrumaa region many of the rats in the specimen, now part of the collection at the University of Tartu Museum of Zoology in Estonia, were alive. Sightings of the phenomenon in modern times, especially where the specimens are alive, are very rare. X-ray images show formations of callus at the fractures of their tails, which suggests that the animals survived for an extended period of time with their tails tangled. All of them were killed by the time they were examined. Ī rat king discovered in 1963 by a farmer at Rucphen, Netherlands, as published by cryptozoologist M. Alcohol-preserved rat kings are shown in museums in Hamburg, Göttingen, Hamelin, Stuttgart, Strasbourg and Nantes.Ī rat king found in 1930 in New Zealand, displayed in the Otago Museum in Dunedin, was composed of immature black rats whose tails were entangled by horse hair. The museum Mauritianum in Altenburg, Thuringia, shows the largest well-known mummified "rat king", which was found in 1828 in a miller's fireplace at Buchheim. Specimens of purported rat kings are kept in some museums. Most extant examples are formed from black rats ( Rattus rattus). The earliest report of rat kings comes from 1564. Rat king depicted in 16th-century woodcut Īn alternative theory states that the name in French was rouet de rats (or a spinning wheel of rats, the knotted tails being wheel spokes), with the term transforming over time into roi des rats, because formerly French oi was pronounced or similar nowadays it is pronounced. Conrad Gesner in Historia animalium (1551–58) stated: "Some would have it that the rat waxes mighty in its old age and is fed by its young: this is called the rat king." Martin Luther stated: "finally, there is the Pope, the king of rats right at the top." Later, the term referred to a king sitting on a throne of knotted tails. The term was not originally used in reference to actual rats, but for persons who lived off others. The original German term, Rattenkönig, was calqued into English as rat king, and into French as roi des rats. Historically, this phenomenon is particularly associated with Germany.Ī similar phenomenon with squirrels has been observed, which has had modern documented examples. This may be a result of an entangling material like hair, a sticky substance such as sap or gum, or the tails being tied together. Rat king found in 1895 in Dellfeld, Germany, now in the Musée zoologique de la ville de Strasbourg, FranceĪ rat king is a collection of rats whose tails are intertwined and bound together in some way.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |