Discover the truth: viral video with funny rat taking shower turned out to be something absolutely different!
This video has gone viral as soon as it has appeared in the web. Probably you have even seen it: a small rat takes shower exactly like human does. Just take a look!
But it turns out that everything is absolutely different to what you think. In fact, it is not a rat and it doesn’t take any shower.
This video was taken in Peru. It is a rodent covered with soap. And you may this tiny animal acts as like a human in shower, but… According to Tuomas Aivelo, researcher in Urban Rat biology at the University of Helsinki, “the movements are pretty strange, A rat wouldn’t do that unless there’s something it really wants to get rid of. I think it’s soapy all over. That’s probably a problem for the rat. It just wants to get rid of the soap.”
Another important point: this animal is not actually a rat, but a pacarana — a brown rodent from South Africa.
Photo: By Benjamin Frable (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
Dallas Krentzel, a biologist from the University of Chicago, points out that “with the large head size, bipedal position, flexible forelimbs, short stiff tail, and consistent coat color…this animal fits the ID of a pacarana.” Moreover, this poor animal was covered with soap and is trying to get rid of it. You may find this video funny, but this kind of washing is not natural for these animals. It’s unsafe and potentially inhumane.
Preview: Check It Out/youtube,
By Benjamin Frable (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
