Squirrels copy "Rat King" Legend - A twisted tail

[packman]

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Five young squirrels in Wisconsin are recovering from a procedure to separate them, after their tails became entangled in a “Gordian knot” with strips of plastic.

The animals were found by a passerby, hopelessly struggling to separate themselves. It is believed that they tied themselves together in the nest, getting caught up in strands of grass and plastic that their parents had used to create their home.



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/17/squirrels-separated-vets-tails-become-entangled-strips-plastic/

A rat king is a collection of rats whose tails are intertwined and bound together by one of several possible mechanisms, such as entangling material like hair or sticky substances like sap or gum. The number of rats joined together varies from a few to as many as 32. Historically, the phenomenon is particularly associated with Germany, which produced many reported instances. Rat kings occur so rarely that they have sometimes been thought to be cryptids, but there are several well-attested modern occurrences
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_king

[Fla Dem]

1. Poor guys, glad it turned out OK.

[Laffy Kat]

2. Looks like the little stinkers are sleeping off the anesthesia.

So glad they're free. That would be a horrible way to go.