The internet loves watching rats perform unusual activities. In 2015, a rat caught on video dragging a slice of pizza down a staircase in a New York City subway became affectionately known as Pizza Rat. Now there’s a video of a rat that appears to be taking a shower like a human. Say hello to shower rat.
https://gfycat.com/BrokenGlossyAnole
The video was posted to Reddit Sunday night in the subreddit r/NatureIsFuckingLit. In the comment thread, people wondered whether the rat was actually Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Others said that the creature needed a vest. Over in r/RATS, a poster identified the rat in the video as a giant pouched rat.
On Twitter, the showering rat was discussed with admiration.
can’t get over the video of the rat taking a shower i want that to be projected behind me at my wedding
— 999 (@thechromenunn) January 29, 2018
All praise and glory to the shower rat.
— Jarrod Brown (@jarrodonly) January 29, 2018
Why is this rat taking a shower like a regular person? 😫😂😂 pic.twitter.com/bncDiYRQyU
— Kevín (@KevOnStage) January 28, 2018
The video also made people feel strange because, well, it shows a rat “scrubbing” its body like a human.
https://twitter.com/MrJakeJohnson/status/957774967684317184
https://twitter.com/marrowing/status/957941890510348288
https://twitter.com/Fabio_LaFlare/status/957666351820296192
https://twitter.com/oluwamaya/status/957646597021687808
And, of course, the showering rat became the center of many internet jokes.
Imagine you need to use your shower in the morning, and there’s just a rat there washing himself like…
— ♒️ (@IsaiahThinks) January 28, 2018
“Giss us a sec mate”
I can’t believe a rat taking a shower won all the Grammys
— i am meme (@mybandowen) January 29, 2018
But some people pointed out that the rat is likely not enjoying a shower. It could just be trying to itch its body.
Everyone: SHOWER RAT!!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) January 29, 2018
Some asshole rat scientist: It’s doing that because it’s dying.
https://twitter.com/kennabbby/status/957851792175493120
Welcome to the internet, where even the cute animal videos usually have a catch.