The rat hole briefly became the city\u2019s hottest attraction in early 2024. People came from across the city to visit the splat in Roscoe Village. Some left offerings like spare change and shots of Malort. Others got engaged and married<\/a> next to the rat hole. The image became a mascot<\/a> for a 16-inch softball team and a popular tattoo choice<\/a>. The hole was even filled in overnight<\/a> in an act of \u201cratribution,\u201d but neighbors quickly excavated it. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mo Flanagan pours Mal\u00f6rt into Chicago\u2019s iconic Rat Hole as an offering, in the 1900 block of West Roscoe Street in the Roscoe Village neighborhood, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. <\/p>\n Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n Michael Granatosky, the lead author of the study and an evolutionary biomechanist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, said he also thought it was a rat at first glance. But a closer look at the size of the hands and head made him question who was really responsible. <\/p>\n \u201cIt created a zoological mystery,\u201d he told the Sun-Times. <\/p>\n When the image went viral, the Sun-Times spoke with<\/a> longtime neighbors of the rat hole in Roscoe Village and they said a squirrel created the imprint after likely falling into wet cement from the trees above the sidewalk. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to burst anyone\u2019s bubble or upset anybody, but it\u2019s a squirrel,\u201d said one resident who lived across the street from the imprint for over 20 years. <\/p>\n The imprint\u2019s popularity and the debate over what it was sparked Granatosky\u2019s curiosity. <\/p>\n When he started working on the paper, he planned to visit the rat hole and take a 3D scan of the imprint. But by then, city crews had removed<\/a> the slab of sidewalk containing the rat hole in the 1900 block of West Roscoe Street. The city promised to preserve and display the imprint, but has yet to announce a permanent home for it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n