Rat Taking a Shower: Watch Rodent Scrub Itself in the Sink; Experts Explain Bizarre Sighting

A clip of a rat in a shower went viral a few years ago because many couldn't believe the sight. Several even reacted with a rat showering meme, but experts claimed the animal in the viral "rat taking a shower" video may not be a rat.

Rat Taking a Shower

A video of a rat in the shower went viral on Reddit and Twitter 2018. Jose Correa from Peru shared the bizarre sighting on social media. He said he walked into his bathroom one Saturday morning and found the rodent scrubbing itself in the sink.

The little creature was uncaring about Correa's presence and went on washing itself while being filmed. Many immediately reacted, with several finding the rat cute.

However, several were also wondering how the rodent did it. One jokingly asked if it was Ratatouille, the rat from the hit 2007 American computer-animated comedy-drama movie "Ratatouille." A different user seemingly agreed, joking that the rat may be a chef in "Ratatouille," Remy, a young rat with an extreme sense of taste and smell, dreams of becoming a chef like his human idol, the late Auguste Gusteau.

Another user joked that the rat was washing its enemies' blood after a battle. A different netizen added that the rat bathed like a grown-up man after being in a coal mining factory for 14 hours.

Many watched the clip and found the video adorable, but an expert claimed that the people were wrong to say it was a rat. The animal that Correa filmed was a rodent, but not a rat, and there's a serious reason why it needed to shower.

Rat in the Shower Explained

Stop with the rat showering meme because the animal in the shower was not a rat, according to Dallas Krentzel, an evolutionary biologist who studies rodent diversity at the University of Chicago and the Field Museum. The expert said the animal is more likely a pacarana because of its large head size, bipedal position, flexible forelimbs, short, stiff tail, and consistent coat color.

No other rodent could meet all of those characteristics, and the fact that this video was filmed in Peru, where pacaranas are well-known, confirms this. He also saw the post and added that pacas and pacaranas are two of his favorite species because they are peculiar.

Krentzel said that pacarana is arboreal, meaning trees are where they live. In many online videos of pacaranas, the rodents stand straight and seem quite at ease doing so. No wonder it became a star in the viral "shower rat" video due to its ability to hold the position.

"It makes sense that this animal could wash itself like a human because it needs that forelimb mobility for foraging and food processing," Krentzel explained.

He claimed that someone may have covered the young pacarana with soap and was trying to get rid of it, which was captured in the video. He warned that soap removes the necessary oils in its skin, and its reaction is similar to normal grooming movements.

Krentzel noted that it's vital that the public learns not to lather up pet rats with soap. He added that it is equally important that people don't misdirect their fury at the viral video since the clip was humorous and the pacarana didn't suffer.

Check out more news and information on Animals in Science Times.