NYC rat goes viral for dragging donut and sharing it with a rat friend on subway tracks
The Today Show
LIZ CALVARIO
October 28, 2023 at 4:03 AM
Move over pizza rat, there’s a new rodent in town and it's going viral.
A TikTok posted by @smallredcar, Carly Hittner, has the internet talking because of the rat’s sweet and chivalrous gesture. In the clip, posted Oct. 25, a rat is seen dragging a large, glazed donut through a Manhattan subway station. As it scurries its way through the tracks, a second rat comes out and the two share the tasty treat.
“donut rat treats his woman better than half you other rats in this city,” Hittner captioned the video.
The caption on the clip also reads: “some of the men in this city need lessons in chivalry.”
The video has over 2.7 million videos and is reminiscent of the 2015 viral video of a rat carrying a large pizza slice down stairs.
And just like there was so much support for the little pizza rat that could, donut rat is being praised and applauded for sharing its snack.
Hittner tells TODAY.com that she took the video on Sunday, Oct. 22, when she and her boyfriend were headed home after a dinner date night.
“We see this rat trying to carry this thing that’s bigger than its whole body and you’re thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s like pizza rat!’” she says. “And then as we kept watching it — that initially caught our interest — and then it turns into this love story that was kind of funny and intriguing to see unfold.”
She thought seeing the rat provide for its friend was silly, but was inspired to write the caption after a conversation with her friends about dating in the city.
“I was listening to my friends talking about dating, relationships and their kind of grievances with dating in the city. And it was like, ‘Oh, well, if a rat can do it. It’s simple. It shouldn’t be this hard,’” she jokes. “And I guess those thoughts kind of tied in together and I was like, ‘Oh, it’ll caption it this. This feels accurate.’ It’s so funny.”
Of course when a video goes viral, along comes the influx of opinions, the good, the bad and the ugly.
Hittner says she was surprised by how controversial a video can become when it goes viral. However, she says, “There’s a lot of support for the sentiment that dating in New York might be a bit tougher.”
On the TikTok video, comments like “A PROVIDER,” “The NY rats have a better love life than I do,” and “He’s treating her better than any man has ever treated me,” can be seen.
Another person added, “This is the nicest guy in nyc.”
There’s also “a lot of rat supporters,” says Hittner, who’s been in New York for almost five years after moving from California.
“It’s definitely been interesting to see the rat support come out,” she says. “I thought New Yorkers hated rats, but it turns out New Yorkers kind of like rats because they provide us some of our most recognizable content.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
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