Recently, a Russian man named Alibulat Rasulov found five young rats with their tails intertwined in farmland in the Tafropol region. In fact, this is not the first time it has been discovered, as early as the 16th century in Germany found this strange phenomenon. Out of fear of rats, many people believe that when there are rats with tails tangled together, it often means disaster.
Lasulov's "Rat King"
Rats with their tails tangled together are called "rat kings", but how did they come about, and does this phenomenon really mean that there is a disaster?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > "rat king" is not the king of rats</h1>
This strange phenomenon was first witnessed in Germany in 1564. Due to the lack of scientific understanding, rats spread the Black Death in Europe. It is thought that the appearance of rats with their tails joined together is an ominous sign, meaning the arrival of the plague. They also gave rats with their tails together a very domineering name, rattenkönig, a term borrowed by both Britain and France to describe rats with their tails intertwined.
It was called because people at the time thought that the rats with their tails tangled together were a large rat with multiple bodies. They believe that the one in the middle is the "brain" of the rat king, which is responsible for directing the other "limb" activities.
Medieval paintings of the Rat King
There have been many sightings of rat kings in Europe, and many rats with their tails intertwined have been made into specimens for display. The Science Museum in Altenburg, Germany, has the largest and most famous specimen of the rat king, which was found in 1828 in the ruins of a flour mill in Buheim and contains 32 rats.
Not only do European rats have their tails intertwined, but so do mice in Asia. On March 23, 1918, a medium-sized rat king was found in Bogor, Indonesia, which consisted of 10 small rice rats.
The rat king who was made into a specimen
Interestingly, rats with their tails entangled together, despite their inability to move, can survive for a while. In 1963, a Dutch farmer named P. van Nynnathteren discovered a rat king, a rat king consisting of 7 rats who, after X-ray tests, found a layer of piánzhī (piánzhī) on the surface of their tails. The formation principle of calluses is similar to that of calluses, which are keratinous hyperplasia caused by long-term wear and tear of the skin. The appearance of callos in the tails of rats means that they have survived for a long time after the tails have been entangled. This astonishing discovery was later published in a book by the occult zoologist M. Skaningd.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" Data-track="10" Why is there a "rat king" >? </h1>
Due to their limited knowledge, people in the Middle Ages naturally thought that rats with their tails were the creatures of the devil. The French are more graphic in their representation of the rat king, and their words for the rat king evolved from rouets des rats. Rats with their tails intertwined are as terrifying as the Wheel of Demons. But science shows that the intertwining of rats' tails is a completely natural phenomenon and does not foreshadow anything. So why is there a rat king?
The rat king made into a specimen
(1) Mice are stained with a sticky substance
Rats are used to moving in groups and like to run to human kitchens to steal food. In this process, the tail of the mouse is inevitably contaminated with sticky substances such as syrup and honey. Unlike humans, rats do not have the habit of cleaning after meals, and the tail covered with "glue" sticks as soon as it touches the tail of other mice. If there are enough rat populations that steal food, it is easy to form a large rat king composed of twenty or thirty rats.
To be honest, rats definitely don't like to become "rat kings". Because they are easily discovered by predators, the difficulty of predator predation is also reduced a lot. Moreover, it is not convenient for the mice stuck together to find something to eat, and there must be unlucky eggs who starve to death because they did not have something to eat. It's just that because I don't know how to wash off the "glue" on the tail, no one dares to break the tail and escape. Rats can only survive like this, and they can live for a day.
The Rat King of Artistic Expression
(2) Other factors
It is also possible that the tail of the rat is tied together by a foreign object. When the five little russian rats were found, their tails were tied around their tails to a grass, and Rassulov could take the rats off the grass with his hands. Rassulov believes that the mother mouse tied her cub's tail and hung it on the grass, because the "rat king" was next to a flooded watermelon field.
Of course, this does not rule out the possibility of an artificial rat king. In order to become popular on the Internet, Rassulov will most likely anesthetize five small mice. Then tie the rat's tail together and tie it into a dead knot. After doing this, he hung the "Rat King" on the grass, and then pretended to find the Rat King by accident and took a video to upload to social media.
And the rat king incidents witnessed in the Middle Ages are also difficult to prove true or false, because these events are so far away that it is impossible to trace the details of the events at that time. In the dark Middle Ages, the power of the church covered the sky with only its hands. In order to maintain their dominance, believers inevitably use people's fear of rats and superstition of God to create panic.
Creating panic is as simple as a small amount of honey or syrup plus a few caught rats to create a rat king. When this artificial rat king is built and released in a densely populated place, it can naturally cause panic. The Church obstructs it a little more, and its ultimate goal, to maintain its control over the territory, is achieved. After all, such as the "fish belly collection", "heavenly father upper body", etc., it is not a new thing for human beings to promote their claims or achieve their own goals by forging miracles.
The Yellow Turban Army pretending to be a ghost
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="19" > squirrels also have "rat kings"</h1>
Interestingly, in addition to the rat's tail will be entangled, the squirrel's tail will also be entangled. And these squirrels with tails entangled together are naturally also known as "squirrel kings". As recently as May 2018, six small squirrels with resin stuck to their tails were found in Nebraska, USA. In an interview with reporters, local resident Craig Rutman described the scene this way:
I found the tails of six small squirrels about eight weeks old wrapped around each other and stuck to a pine tree. It's like they're in a tug-of-war, each one facing a different direction.
Squirrels tangled together
Seeing the six little poor ones who were struggling but couldn't move, Lutman immediately called the local wildlife treatment center, and the staff of the rescue center immediately sent someone to rescue the six baby squirrels. They first fed the six baby squirrels painkillers with no obvious side effects, and then cleaned the knotted tail. Since the tails of a few squirrels are completely glued together, doctors can only surgically cut part of the tail. After the treatment is completed, the staff gradually releases the recovered squirrels back into nature.
Fortunately, these six squirrels met a kind person. Otherwise, they will starve to death because they cannot move, and the starving squirrels will become food for other carnivores. From this case, it is not difficult to find that in addition to the church that pretends to be a ghost and the video blogger in order to win attention, the naturally formed rat king is very likely to exist.
The "squirrel king" preparing to untie the tail for surgery
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="24" >Why do "Rat King" and "Squirrel King" have different endings? </h1>
Although rats and squirrels are both rodents, and the formation principle of "Rat King" is exactly the same as that of "Squirrel King". But the Rat King would only be beaten to death by humans, or made into specimens for people to visit. Squirrels, on the other hand, can be treated well and put back into nature. This really doesn't blame human eccentricity, the rat got the treatment it deserved because of its misdeeds.
The most hated thing about rats is the transmission of disease. Rats are tenacious, and many bacteria and viruses that can cause human infection are transmitted to humans through rats. The mouse as the host does not interfere with these pathogenic bacteria at all. The Black Death, which frightened Europeans, was transmitted through rats, an important host.
Europeans infected with the Black Death
Rats are second and most hateful to steal. Rats are burrowing animals and are used to rushing out in search of food. Rats are extremely capable of reproduction and naturally need a lot of food. Since rats like to nest close to human dwellings, human kitchens and granaries are frequented by rats. Many of the food and food that have been wasted by rats can only be destroyed, because it is very likely to be contaminated by bacteria carried by rats.
Rats that steal food
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="28" > conclusion</h1>
Compared with humans living in the Middle Ages, the 21st century has taken a big step forward in understanding nature and science. The rat king, who was previously feared by mankind, has been shown to be inextricably linked to the plague. But we cannot be complacent. Because with the progress of cognition, the deception of singular phenomena as gimmicks will become more and more sophisticated.