Chicago rat hole is filled in with cement - only for local resident to find fans digging it out again with spoons and license plates: 'It's always been a fun part of the street'

The fur is flying in one Illinois street as cheesed-off neighbors go to war over the future of the famous Chicago Rat Hole.

The decades-old imprint of an unfortunate rodent preserved in the concrete of a Roscoe Village paving slab went viral in January after comedian Winslow Dumaine posted a picture on his X account.

Thousands of sightseers flocked to leave tributes at the curious outline, with one couple even getting married at the spot.

But the crowds have infuriated some on the residential street and the imprint was filled in with cement for a second time on Wednesday – only for rat fans to dig it out each time.

‘It’s just sort of sad that someone would do this,’ neighbor Cindy Nelson told the Chicago Tribune, ‘Just let it be joyful.’

Little remained of the Chicago Rat Hole after a disgruntled neighbor filled it with cement overnight on Tuesday to the dismay of its fans 

The rat shaped imprint went viral after local artist and comedian Winslow Dumaine (pictured) posted a photo of it to X, formerly known as Twitter, on January 6

The image, which shows a splayed out rat indent in the pavement, was accompanied by text that read: 'Had to make a pilgrimage to the Chicago Rat Hole' 

The neighborhood woke to find that the unknown objector had struck overnight but by mid-afternoon rat fans had scooped out the infill with spoons and license plates.

‘I’m glad they did,’ resident Emma Cheski, 25, said.

‘All the neighbors love it. It’s always been a fun part of the street.’

Online chatter about the rat hole dates back at least a decade with speculation about its origin parking fierce debates.

And some heratics have suggested the imprint might not actually be that of a rat at all.

'That definitely looks more like a squirrel than a rat to me,' one observer commented. 'And I say this as somebody who has been bitten by a squirrel.'

'Naw... it's a squirrel... I live in Roscoe village and we've done research... It's a squirrel...,' another agreed.

'You can tell by the footprints next to it.'

'I took a picture of that exact same imprint a couple months ago, and I'm sorry but it's no squirrel. It's a fat Chicago rat,' someone else declared.

Within days of Dumaine's tweet the hole in the concrete had become a shrine to the rat

Others who have made the pilgrimage to the famous rat hole have left offerings to the rodent imprint

Visitors have been leaving small trinkets, like this fake rodent, at the now-famous rat hole in Chicago 

It's notoriety has made it one of the symbols of the city and one of the viral sensations of 2024 

'Alternative theory - somewhere a construction worker, who has a strange sense of humor and cares little for the quality of his work, keeps a rubber rat with his masonry tools,' a fourth person joked.

Winslow guessed it was likely a 'perfect combination of factors' that resulted in the rodent imprint.

'The cement was obviously very wet for a rat to be able to land that deeply in it,' he told Book Club Chicago.

'It probably just landed and then was covered in cement and then crawled out. Because there are little scratch marks near the hole.'

People have brought cheese, coins, bottles of alcohol, and flowers to the site, with some even creating shrines to the rat and to the memory of their own beloved pets.

But some residents have been infuriated by the amount of garbage they have left in their wake warning that it could attract much more animated rodents.

Local politicians have suggested removing the slab to a nearby park or even auctioning it off for charity.

But the interest has been seized on by local businesses which has been running off a line of rat-related memorabilia.

And other cities have taken note of the excitement with some starting to think about their own overlooked attractions including DC’s Stumpy the malformed cherry tree and the St Charles frog hole in Missouri.

‘My favorite thing is people going around, saying, ‘Oh, I have an animal hole on my street.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, look at this frog print’,’ said Gabrielle Plascak, 31, who lives next door.

‘But you can’t outdo the rat. It’s the OG.’

The hole was first filled in with a plaster like substance within days of its notoriety 

But rat fans soon managed to restore it to its former glory 

Pest control company Orkin even named Chicago the nation's 'rattiest' city in 2023 

Whoever has been filling the hole in has remained anonymous due, some say, to fear of ratribution.

But the rat fans on the street are not impressed with their efforts.

‘It was just a big splat of cement on top,’ said Plascak.

‘They didn’t even fill in the tail. I was like, ‘You couldn’t at least smooth this out for us?’