Squirrel King?

Photo: Craig Luttman

The tangling of tails in rodents is a phenomenon known as a “rat king.” Recently six baby squirrels were found in Elkhorn, Nebraska with their tails hopelessly entwined. A resident heard them screaming on a sap-covered tree in a neighbour's yard:

“The squirrels weren’t moving in unison, they all wanted to go in opposite directions,” he said. “It was like a game of tug-of-war. They looked tired and stressed out, and I figured they weren’t gonna make it—they were gonna die.” 

Nebraska Wildlife Rehab were eventually able to to untangle the rodent sextuplets and they are expected to be released into the wild in a few weeks.

Read more about their rescue