Wedding at the Chicago Rat Hole goes viral

CHICAGO - The Chicago Rat Hole in Roscoe Village has been making its rounds on social media as rodent fans visit and pay tribute. 

Most recently, the rat-shaped imprint on the sidewalk on West Roscoe Street has become a wedding venue. 

Raj Mahal posted a video to TikTok Saturday of two men being married under an arch of balloons right next to the Rat Hole. 

The video was captioned "My perfect Rat Hole wedding." 

It is clear the appreciation for Chicago's newest attraction has grown as the gifts for the Rat Hole continue to grow. 

People have come from far and wide to throw coins in the hole like the Trevi Fountain. Visitors have left food like pretzels and Arizona Iced Tea. 

Supportive neighbors even dug out the hole on Friday after it was defaced with a "plaster-like substance."

Chicago Rat Hole origins

At the start of the New Year, local artist and comedian Winslow Dumaine was walking in the 1900 block of West Roscoe Street when he stumbled across the imprint of a rat pressed into the concrete. 

"What I found was very much like Looney Tunes, I guess. Just a full rat splat in the wet pavement," said Dumaine. "I just busted out laughing when I saw it."

Dumaine snapped a picture with his cellphone and put it on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Above the picture he wrote, "Had to make a pilgrimage to the Chicago rat hole."

In just two days, it had five million views. Since then, admirers have placed candles, cheese and stuffed animals near the landmark

"Rat hole just blew up. It was it's time to shine," said Dumaine. "It's very universal. Everywhere got rats. Everywhere got mistakes. And this one is a rat making a pretty profound mistake."

Neighbor Cindy Nelson said the imprint has been on the sidewalk for the 20 years she has lived on the block. And she is convinced it's a squirrel that fell out of a tall tree that used to grow here. 

"Everyone who's been here this long says it's a squirrel," said Nelson. "I didn't see it personally, but I don't believe a rat hops in the air and belly flops straight down."