This Rat Got Stuck In A Manhole & The Internet Is Relating A Little Too Hard

Every once in a while, the universe blesses us with a gift so perfect and good the internet can only respond with a resounding, “it me.” Behold: this rat stuck in a sewer manhole. Her name is Trapped Sewer Rat, and she is a full and complete mood.

Trapped Sewer Rat got her start in Bensheim, Germany where she was found stuck in a manhole cover. (It should be noted that we don’t know, with certainty, the gender of Trapped Sewer Rat. However, Trapped Sewer Rat is now the internet’s lord and savior and, as Saint Ariana Grande once said, “God is a woman.” Therefore, A + B = Trapped Sewer Rat is a femme, feminist icon and, for that, we must clap.) A local animal rescue team responded to the scene after a couple of young girls spotted Ms. Rat stuck in the manhole cover. Girls helping girls! The future is female rats stuck in the sewer!!!

A team of at least nine firefighters arrived at the scene, which is the exact sort of excessive attention I want and crave. Give me suspense! Give me drama! Give me kind of an absurd number of people helping a rat get her literal rat ass out of the sewer!

“She had a lot of winter flab and was stuck fast at her hip,” animal rescuer Michael Sehr told local media, according to BBC. “There was no going forward or back.”

That quote! Is! POETRY!!!

Sometimes the world wants to hold us back. Sometimes we are the ones holding ourselves back. We are stuck, waist deep, in a literal or metaphoric shithole, and there is no going forward or back. Our ass is trapped and we’re left, exposed. Trapped Sewer Rat teaches us that, in these moments, it’s OK to ask for help. It’s normal to take a break. It’s fine and good to scream a bunch until someone comes to rescue us.

LOOK AT HER! Mouth agape, as if she is shouting, “I MADE A MISTAAAAAAKE.” Every photo of her is very *record scratch* “Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got here…”

If you’re wondering how a team of firefighters saves a rat stuck in a manhole cover, the answer is with various tools and wedges. You can, and should, take five minutes out of your day to watch a video of her rescue. (Is it too soon to say there’s 2020 Oscar Buzz???)

When asked why they would respond to a call for a rat, an animal culturally known for being gross and terrible, Sehr said, “Even animals that are hated by many deserve respect.”

Trapped Sewer Rat did not respond to requests for comment.

After her rescue, Sewer Rat retreated back into the sewer, but her story had just begun. A series of photos were shared to the German rescue team’s Facebook page, telling her full and complete story. The comments section is flooded with notes of gratitude and relief and “Thanks for helping out the fat rat!”

In addition to the groundswell of internet support, Sehr and his team received hand-drawn pictures and notes from the girls who initially found Trapped Sewer Rat. That picture, an accurate replica of the scene shows Trapped Sewer Rat surrounded by hearts. (Love was surrounding her the whole time!!!)

Trapped Sewer Rat will live in internet infamy with rodent brethren pizza rat and yet another pizza rat. Long live, Trapped Sewer Rat! At least until we find another rat that makes us feel oddly seen!