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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

A great mystery may have been solved this week. The Chicago rat hole, a rodent-shaped imprint in the sidewalk in the Roscoe Village neighborhood dazzled social media back in January of 2024. Imagine a rat falling out of the sky, splatting onto some wet cement. Gone, yes, but somehow memorialized. Chicagoans scampered to the rat hole. Some took pictures. Some got engaged right on the spot next to the rat hole - ooh-la-la, the romance. And visitors brought trinkets. Brendan O'Neill, a local who appeared in our story about this last year, gave us a list.

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BRENDAN O'NEILL: Coins, cards. There appears to be some shredded cheese. And then in the snow, closer to the street, you have some trinkets that were left behind, including some York Peppermint Patties, a little rubber ducky, some cones, candles and some condoms, for whatever reason.

SIMON: Well, for the romance. Also, the ro-dent (ph) isn't there anymore. Hope you got that - ro-dent. The city removed the slab of sidewalk, and researchers say now there is a 98.67% chance that the Chicago rat hole was made by a tree rat - a squirrel, as they're commonly known - probably an Eastern gray or fox squirrel. The Chicago Eastern gray squirrel hole does not roll off the tongue like Chicago rat hole, but the city says it will preserve and display the imprint. Why not in city hall?

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