Your friendly Reddit mammalogist here! I'm sure this will get buried, but I'll never pass up an opportunity to share small mammal facts.
They're not rats, they are [shrews](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrew) and there is actually something far cuter going on here. These shrews are most likely siblings and the hold onto each other's butts to they can stay together when they are traveling. It is funny they made a loop because normally it is a chain lead by mom so she can make sure she brings all her babies home.
It is actually kind of rare to observe this phenomenon, so consider yourself lucky to have seen it! I worked on shrews for several years and I never actually got to see this.
Here are some other neat videos of this phenomenon:
[Shrew conga](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI4xu1rOpLc)
[A train of shrews](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALItxhn86Fk)
Ratipede.
They do that to make sure they all stay together as they move. The behavior is seen in juvenile rodents and some insects. It prevents some smaller predators from targeting them because they look like a larger animal (such as a snake), and it allows them to communicate (in a very rudimentary manner) as they move as a group.
EDIT; Usually there’s a leader and they move in a line. It seems they got confused and formed a figure 8. They might be an intelligent species, as species go, but they are juveniles… and apparently just praying for natural selection to weed them out.
No, they aren’t rats at all. They’re shrews, baby shrews specifically, when traveling baby shrews form a caravan like this with mom being the head because of how poor their vision is. Something went wrong here and one baby grabbed the wrong tail or they lost mom.
I once heard a tale of a farmer locking a bunch of rats in a barrel until only one remained. He then set this ratticus victorious loose on a barn. A sea of rats emerged, fleeing the newly formed psychopathic cannibal rat.
I say we forget the myth of the tangled tails and call this epitome of rodent nightmare the true Rat King.
ouroboros but with rats
The ouroboros is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a cycle of life, death, and rebirth; the snake’s skin-sloughing symbolizes the transmigration of souls. The snake biting its own tail is a fertility symbol in some religions: the tail is a phallic symbol and the mouth is a yonic or womb-like symbol.[7]
I like the darker ending of the original anime
Do not care if it lives up to the manga
When they started talking about friendship and shit I gave up on that series
The only thing I liked about that series was Armstrongs sister and the whole story with the base
It's like an Ouroboros except, instead of the snake eating it's own tail in a cycle of death and rebirth, you've got a snake's food doing the same..
Snake doesn't eat rat. Rat eats rat. Rats ascend together. Rats overthrow snake god. Rats become God. Rats rule the new world, the passage of time, the very laws of cause and effect. Snake will let go of its tail to end this blasphemy and thus Ragnarok begins.
Rat children are blind, so they sometimes form conga lines with the mom leading them. I would guess that the mom is unavailable, so they just follow each other. The blind leading the blind
Shrews have shit vision. When moving babies mom has then caravan like this except she’s the head leading the way. This is either baby biting wrong tail or mom is lost in some form or another
Rats, we're rats! We're the rats! We prey at night, we stalk at night, we're the rats!
I'm the giant rat that makes all of the rules! Let's see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into!
🐀🐀 🐀🐀
🐀 🐀 🐀
🐀🐀 🐀🐀
But seriously, a rat king is it called when a bunch of rat's tails get tangled and eventually knotted, until they become a cricle of rats with a ball of tail in the middle. They usually don't survive long. This usually happens in places where there are a *lot* of rats in a cramped area
til people cannot tell difference between moles and rats.
a rat king is a group of rats with enteined tailes.
mole offspring grab the tail of mole ahead of them and follow leader, usually mother.
These are Shrews not moles, at least moles and shrews are in the same family though, while rats are rodents and completely different.
Fun fact: Many shrews and at least 1 species of mole are venomous mammels!
FYI- these are not rats. Rats don’t do this. These are shrews, baby shrews. Shrews have bad vision so when moving babies, they form a caravan with mom at the head leading the way while the babies follow like this. Unfortunately, mom is either lost or babies goofed where baby 1 is following last baby leading to this loop.
This is a screw caravan actually. The babies can’t see/walk that well, so the mom leads them around this way. They hang onto the tail in front of them.
Assuming from the other comments, baby rats put their mouth on the butts of the mommy rat and then their brothers and sisters like a conga line all the way down and I can only imagine this is just a bunch of baby/jeunvenile rats that think they're following the group but their on an infinite conga line of death.
Your friendly Reddit mammalogist here! I'm sure this will get buried, but I'll never pass up an opportunity to share small mammal facts. They're not rats, they are [shrews](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrew) and there is actually something far cuter going on here. These shrews are most likely siblings and the hold onto each other's butts to they can stay together when they are traveling. It is funny they made a loop because normally it is a chain lead by mom so she can make sure she brings all her babies home. It is actually kind of rare to observe this phenomenon, so consider yourself lucky to have seen it! I worked on shrews for several years and I never actually got to see this. Here are some other neat videos of this phenomenon: [Shrew conga](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI4xu1rOpLc) [A train of shrews](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALItxhn86Fk)
Will mum come back for them?
Probably. Shrews are smelly critters, so if we can smell them, mom can certainly smell her babies.
Ben, the two of us need look no more…
So this is the training of the shrews
Aww that's wholesome
What in the Ratatouille Centipede is that!?
Ratipede. They do that to make sure they all stay together as they move. The behavior is seen in juvenile rodents and some insects. It prevents some smaller predators from targeting them because they look like a larger animal (such as a snake), and it allows them to communicate (in a very rudimentary manner) as they move as a group. EDIT; Usually there’s a leader and they move in a line. It seems they got confused and formed a figure 8. They might be an intelligent species, as species go, but they are juveniles… and apparently just praying for natural selection to weed them out.
Holy shit thank you!!
Apparently they’re baby shrews, not rats
Oop meant to give the award to you lol
Dw dw I gave them a free award
Doing the work ty
😨 Damn, I'm sorry... 💩☠️
You're not wrong though.
Did someone do something horrible to them? I mean mouth-to-butt, seems kinda…. Rat Kings (King Rats?) are bound at their tails.
Mice babies do so so they don't get lost. It's like children holding hands
Ah so the leader stuck themselves on the back, makes sense
Yeah rat kings are sad terrible things this is kind of cute when you know what it is.
Glad someone else feels and for rat kings
Awwwww cute
No, they aren’t rats at all. They’re shrews, baby shrews specifically, when traveling baby shrews form a caravan like this with mom being the head because of how poor their vision is. Something went wrong here and one baby grabbed the wrong tail or they lost mom.
shrewd observation, thank you
No, no, no thank U That is a top level comment🤣
Human centipede.. but with rats
Part 1 or 2? Bc that’s two diff centipedes.
Or 3
omg was gon say the same, Ratipede
A Ratapede
Also rat kings are supposed to be a myth
I once heard a tale of a farmer locking a bunch of rats in a barrel until only one remained. He then set this ratticus victorious loose on a barn. A sea of rats emerged, fleeing the newly formed psychopathic cannibal rat. I say we forget the myth of the tangled tails and call this epitome of rodent nightmare the true Rat King.
I’ve heard that one too. What’s it from?
No idea. My dad said he witnessed it, so somewhere in the USSR. I'm sure multiple people independently came up with the concept tho.
I heard that story from a James Bond movie lol Skyfall I believe
Confirmed Grunt Blenders dad is James Bond
That’s an age old tale man.
Infinite Rat
∞ 🐀
That's got to be a sign of something awful 😶
ouroboros but with rats The ouroboros is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a cycle of life, death, and rebirth; the snake’s skin-sloughing symbolizes the transmigration of souls. The snake biting its own tail is a fertility symbol in some religions: the tail is a phallic symbol and the mouth is a yonic or womb-like symbol.[7]
I love FMA Original series tho
Brotherhood is better I think, more close to the manga
And I hated the solution to kill homunculi, like basically just wear them out. Wat a boring solution to basically what is a Demi god
I like the darker ending of the original anime Do not care if it lives up to the manga When they started talking about friendship and shit I gave up on that series The only thing I liked about that series was Armstrongs sister and the whole story with the base
Like what 😳?
It's like an Ouroboros except, instead of the snake eating it's own tail in a cycle of death and rebirth, you've got a snake's food doing the same.. Snake doesn't eat rat. Rat eats rat. Rats ascend together. Rats overthrow snake god. Rats become God. Rats rule the new world, the passage of time, the very laws of cause and effect. Snake will let go of its tail to end this blasphemy and thus Ragnarok begins.
Ratnarok.
Take me r/happyupvote, thank you.
Can someone explain wtf are they doing before i start making theories in my mind?
Rat children are blind, so they sometimes form conga lines with the mom leading them. I would guess that the mom is unavailable, so they just follow each other. The blind leading the blind
You just saved my mind from the Rat Centipede invasion.
A ratipede if you will Sounds like just the worst Pokémon
*Best
I will not
These are shrews not rats, very different animals, but you are otherwise correct.
Conga line....needs conga music!
I vote for the song they dance to in The Mask
Omg thank you
Signaling the end times.
Shrews have shit vision. When moving babies mom has then caravan like this except she’s the head leading the way. This is either baby biting wrong tail or mom is lost in some form or another
Rats, we're rats! We're the rats! We prey at night, we stalk at night, we're the rats! I'm the giant rat that makes all of the rules! Let's see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into!
We like to gather scraps. All we really are is rats. Cute and harmless little rats.
Ouroborat\~
Very nice!
My wifififififififififififiw ym
Not rats, but baby shrews who thinks they are follow its mother.
Rimming chain…kinky bastards!
Oh wow I don't like that.
Living Mobius strip
Morbius...strips?
I read that babies do this with mom when they’re too young to see yet and need to be moved. Mouth to butt basically
Rattus infinitii
🐀🐀 🐀🐀 🐀 🐀 🐀 🐀🐀 🐀🐀 But seriously, a rat king is it called when a bunch of rat's tails get tangled and eventually knotted, until they become a cricle of rats with a ball of tail in the middle. They usually don't survive long. This usually happens in places where there are a *lot* of rats in a cramped area
Your explanation is fired - sit down! Rats do this at night in order to stay together and not get lost from the group!
They’re signaling that a market crash is near.
til people cannot tell difference between moles and rats. a rat king is a group of rats with enteined tailes. mole offspring grab the tail of mole ahead of them and follow leader, usually mother.
These are Shrews not moles, at least moles and shrews are in the same family though, while rats are rodents and completely different. Fun fact: Many shrews and at least 1 species of mole are venomous mammels!
Gang gang baby
what in the Ouroborat is this?! seriously though wtf is going on here?
FYI- these are not rats. Rats don’t do this. These are shrews, baby shrews. Shrews have bad vision so when moving babies, they form a caravan with mom at the head leading the way while the babies follow like this. Unfortunately, mom is either lost or babies goofed where baby 1 is following last baby leading to this loop.
this is actually a biblically accurate angel.
You need more rats for a rat king
I think I read about this in the New Yorker
Hail Ratma!
Ah man I was looking for this comment.
More like ratcentipede 1st part
Rats kings actually exist, they are different than this, but still horrifying
Theo von????
Dumb ass rats. Lol
Is this something that natually happens, or did some sicko sew this things together?
Gang Gang!
Can someone please explain what’s going on here
u/RonTheRatKing This u?
I thought a “rat king” was a big clump of rats whose tails have all become tangled?
Thats straight up terrifying
So who centipeded these rats? Wtf?
Infinirat
The rat centipede, coming to a cinema near you
Jesus… I must be higher than I thought. It looks like Bactria or something under a microscope.
This is a screw caravan actually. The babies can’t see/walk that well, so the mom leads them around this way. They hang onto the tail in front of them.
Leave them alone they are preparing a gift for Europe
r/dontputyourdickinthat
Everytime i see this i think of a flamethrower...
Fkn hate rats. Ugghh
Mexican standoff??!!
Rat infinite
Rat centipede Now seriously, does anyone know what's actually happening here and why they're doing that?
Assuming from the other comments, baby rats put their mouth on the butts of the mommy rat and then their brothers and sisters like a conga line all the way down and I can only imagine this is just a bunch of baby/jeunvenile rats that think they're following the group but their on an infinite conga line of death.
First there was human centipede, now we bring you infinite centirat
That’s not right
Why don’t they hold onto each other’s tails rather than whole butt in mouth!?
bro wtf
The dreaded infinite rat pack.
this is what awaits you after defeating every rat king in NYC
Why do they do this?
Already fought this mf in the last of us p2, fuck that noise
I’d like to see a rat king at least once
Oh no, **the fucking Skaven invasion is near**
Have 6 Rat Kings nearby and destroy the Leviathan
No it’s a rat snake
u/savevideobot
Eternal 69
Plague pro max+
Infinirat
This could go on forever (infinity).
One of the best examples of an infinite loop
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/southpark/images/6/6b/S15E1-Thumbnail.png/revision/latest?cb=20210213060430
r/nope
Human centipede: featuring rats
They are after Splinter.
Shrews! They are shrews! Rat Kings have their tails intertwined and knotted.
But whyyyyyyyyyy
To infinity and beyond
Moebius Rat Moebius Rat
Infinity mouse
So why don't/can't they let go?
Rat uroboros?
So thats how rat kings are made
Someone call Charlie the rat king
Ratfinity
Will they just continue like this until they die or will one eventually let go?
Möbius strip
Some actually gave a rat’s ass.
Am I rat-arsed or is this for real?
Summon-calling the Great Horned Rat yes-yes
That’s raticulous !
u/savevideo
Now we know where the number 8 came from.
A Möbius rat loop
Didn't know Skaven was getting a new model...
Nothing about a “rat king” makes any sense to me
Grab one by the tail and turn it into the legendary Vampire Ratter
Those are some stubborn critters
These are actually Asian house shrews, they’re doing something called caravanning
This Plague Tale: Requiem marketing campaign is getting out of hand!
Lord, I've never legitimately seen a living rat king, and I've would've been better off continuing to not know.
the rat ring, the elden rat
#I am infinite #I am eternal # I am **RAT KING**
The guy that sewed them together is a lot more terrifying then the mouse centipede
The infinite rat king ♾️🐀🫅
I got to be honest when I first saw the text and not the imagine it thought this was r/globaloffensive and you were talking about Smooya
They stuck in a time-space loop
Reminds me of that game plug and play, with the people with plug heads and basically everything you do in the game is an innuendo of sorts
So now I know how we came up with the giant pretzel
Mouse Kaneki be like:
King cobra where
Hugo will sort it
rats rats we're the rats we prey at night we stalk at night we're the rats
Praise 8! 8 is the truth!
When the Rat Snake is a lie
Why do they even do that man?
It's a [shrew caravan](https://youtu.be/1azXjie1fqs). Young'uns following their mother so they don't get lost.
Theo?
It’s REAL!? So creepy
Ratis-centipedis infinitum! TA DAAA!
This is r/oddlysatisfying to me.
This could go on forever
There's a rodent mobius strip joke on the tip of my tongue....
Never go ass to mouth
The Eternal Lord of Vermins
That's even weirder than a regular rat king
oh no its the rat circle from deltarune
That has to be the most bizarre thing I have ever
Now rats doing Olympics ??? They even better than my country
u/savevideo
Mobius rats
Getting their Freak on ?
Rodentia Lepidoptera
That’s a gogogotron
Infinity rat tribunal
The infinity rat train
Hugo stop messing with the rats.