A viral Reddit post featuring a strange object hanging from a ceiling took the internet by storm, sparking a wave of laughter, confusion, and wild guesses as users reacted to the creepy moment it began to “wiggle and move.”

Just a day later, the original poster came back with an update, revealing that after ruling out several possibilities, the mysterious, tail-like thing wasn’t from a lizard, a possum, or an armadillo — and definitely not a “tampon pull string.”

“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!” the curious cyber fan wrote, adding, “Someone from the comments quoted ‘When there is one, there is a hundred you can’t see.’ God, I hope not.”

But, when there’s one, there’s likely more, as rats are very social creatures and “prefer living in groups,” according to PBS Nature.

It started off like any ordinary day… until my eyes caught something odd peeking out from the corner of the ceiling. Thin, textured, and strangely snake-like, it immediately triggered a wave of alarm in my mind. Was it just an old wire? A forgotten part of some hidden fixture? Or—horribly—something alive?

What began as mere curiosity quickly shifted into full-blown concern, and that’s when I started my real investigation…