A bizarre photo posted to Reddit showing something dangling from a ceiling sent users into a collective spiral—sparking laughter, fear, and countless wild guesses when the strange object began to “wiggle and move.”
On April 15, Redditor Takuraiii_ took to the subreddit “What is it?” to share a curious image of a dark, stringy, and hairless object poking through a narrow ceiling gap in his home.
“Noticed this sticking out from my ceiling – what is it?” he asked casually alongside the picture, seemingly unfazed by the creepy discovery.
The post quickly went viral, gaining more than 35,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments within hours. Redditors from every corner of the internet jumped in—some offering genuine insight, others delivering jokes and theories that ranged from hilarious to hair-raising.
Ceiling shocker
As expected on Reddit, the comments section took on a life of its own.
After OP clarified that “It moves so it’s probably not dead,” users began examining the object’s size, shape, and texture. Their guesses and reactions ranged from concerned to comical.
One commenter quipped, “Rat expert here (no official degree, but I’ve seen An American Tail at least six times). Could be a tail… or a decoy. We need night vision, infrared—get eyes on every crumb. We’re dealing with a professional.”
Another chimed in with a nod to Ratatouille: “That’s not cute little Remy. That’s a New York rat that will fight you for your food.”
“Lick it. If it looks like a rat, tastes like a rat…” suggested someone else. A reply quickly followed: “Poke it with a stick and lick the stick instead.”
Not everyone was sold on the rat theory, though.
Some guessed it might be an opossum, an armadillo, or even a “giant wall lizard.”
Push it? Pull it? Tickle it?
Others leaned into the absurd.
“Just a shadow. No big deal,” one said. Another advised, “Just push it back up and pretend it never happened.”
A third suggested: “Try tickling it. Maybe it’ll retract on its own.”
Plenty encouraged OP to pull it and be done with it.
“How can you not pull it?” someone asked. OP replied, “It’s got those little hairs… there’s no way I’m touching it barehanded.”
‘Just burn it down’
Understandably, some users were horrified. “I’d burn the whole house down,” one joked—a sentiment echoed by many others.
Another wrote, “Hopefully you can sell the place before the smell kicks in,” implying the mystery object might be from a decaying animal.
But it wasn’t stuck. It moved. Then, OP wrote: “It’s gone now.”
“OP, how are you calm? I’ve got the chills for you,” said one commenter.
Another warned: “It’s not gone. It’s hiding.”
Case closed
Less than a day later, OP returned with an update. After ruling out lizards, opossums, and “tampon pull strings,” the truth came out:
“After a heck-ton of comments saying that it’s a rat’s tail, I can now confirm that it is a rat’s tail…I’ll be calling an exterminator soon to properly deal with the situation. Thank you everyone!” he wrote.
He added a disturbing quote from one commenter: “When there is one, there is a hundred you can’t see.” His response? “God, I hope not.”
But unfortunately, that quote might hold true. According to PBS Nature, rats are highly social creatures that typically live in groups.
When the joke gets real
While the post offered plenty of laughs, it also highlighted a serious issue: hidden rodent infestations.
Rats and mice commonly take refuge in attics, crawlspaces, and wall voids—often unnoticed until a tail appears, or they leave behind telltale signs like droppings or scratching noises.
And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that rodents can carry several dangerous diseases—including hantavirus.
Tragically, that very virus took the life of Betsy Arakawa, wife of actor Gene Hackman, in February 2025.