ALL TIED UP

This May, four baby squirrels, tied together by their tails, were found in woodland near Stockton-on-Tees by a member of the public, who called the RSPCA. An officer took them to a local vet who managed to untangle their tails, which were effectively plaited together. RSPCA inspector Clare Wilson said: “I think they must have become entangled in the nest and, maybe in their haste to get free, jumped over each other effectively plaiting the tails so they were completely stuck.” Such a cluster of rats is traditionally known as a rat king, hence the term “squirrel king”.

In May last year, six young squirrels whose tails were stuck together were rescued from a pine tree in Omaha. Their sap-covered tails had become knotted as the youngsters, aged about eight weeks, wrestled in their nest. Nebraska Wildlife Rehab executive director Laura Stastny gave them a mild painkiller before removing the sticky fur and untangling them [FT373:9]. BBC News, 10 May 2018. For earlier squirrel kings, see FT45:36, 46, 63:13, 104:11, 300:14, 355:25.

On 16 January 2005, farmer Rein Kiiv discovered a 16-strong rat king under the floor of his shed in the Estonian village of Saru. He put the rats on a pile of planks for visitors to see. Two months later, zoologists got to hear of it. The rat king of Saru has been preserved in alcohol and is on display at the Natural History Museum at the University of Tartu. For another rat king, see FT237:22. D.Mail, 13 April 2018.