Rats might not be everyone's favorite animal, but one person's mission to nurse a wild one back to health has amassed millions of views online, and they're being praised for their kindness.
TikTok user Mandy Liora, @justabitalien, is the livestock director of a local community center in Washington, where she looks after hundreds of birds. When a rat attempted to eat some of those birds however, her attention turned to it.
"This poor guy was trying to eat my quail. We have rules about that. You can be here, you can eat our feed, you can eat our scraps but you cannot eat the animals," she said as she filmed the rat in the cage she used to catch it, but made sure not to kill it.
"I'm putting him on the far end of the property where he can eat all the fallen apples," Liora narrated, as she carried the rat to the apple-covered ground.
"He is not hurt, but he is very scared right now," they said. The rat appeared exhausted and barely moving in the video, which in just four days gained over 3 million views and 600,000 likes.
In a follow-up video with over 6 million views, Liora gave an update on the health of the rat, providing it with water and more food.
@justabitalien V*olent comments will be deleted. #animals #wildlife #pnw #farmlife #rat #ThatCloseMessenger
♬ original sound - Mirror
@justabitalien Tired friend. #animals #wildlife #farmlife #kindness
♬ Dreamy - Elijah Lee
"Someone said you're probably dehydrated buddy, and judging by the fact you look pretty rough, I think that's probably true," she added.
Liora handed the rat a cup of water, waiting for it to drink, also leaving a small tomato and grapes for the rodent to eat.
She added that TikTok commenters had alerted her that the rat is "probably a lady and looking a little elderly."
The water and tiny tomato seemed to do the trick, as within a day the rat had disappeared with no water left in the cup and nibble marks in the food.
"Thankyou for being so kind," commented one TikTok user.
"Even if she's in bad shape, she's getting good care. That's all we can do for some little creatures," wrote another, as many noted that the rat appeared extremely sick in the first video.
Newsweek has contacted Mandy Liora for comment.
@justabitalien Rat update part 3, final update. #wildlife #pnw #rat #animals
♬ original sound - Mirror
It wouldn't be the only time that TikTokers have taken animals in need of help under their wing, and subsequently gone viral for the gesture too. In June, TikTok user Dahlia discovered a butterfly with a broken wing and documented her DIY replacement for it—a white feather.
With millions of views, her TikTok followers watched in real-time as the butterfly adapted to its new wing, and finally flew away itself.
Last week, dog rescuer Maria Torres went viral after showing the moment her rescued elderly dog felt a bed for the first time, after she rescued her from abuse.
Bella, the dog, could be seen slowly climbing onto her soft blanket, before timidly snuggling into it—both breaking and warming the hearts of thousands at the same time.
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