Woman horrified by 'rat highway' as she exclaims 'rodents rule this city'

Ashley Bez, 42, was left horrified after spotting thousands of rat paw prints in the snow during an early morning dog walk. She declared 'rats rule this city' after seeing the 'rodent highway'

A woman has been left completely horrified by a rat infestation overtaking her neighborhood, declaring that "rats rule this city". Ashley Bez was stunned when she came across thousands of tiny prints scattered throughout the snow. On closer inspection, the 42-year-old realized they were paw prints mapping out a "rat highway."

After posting the stomach-turning footage to her 39,000 TikTok followers, her clip racked up an astonishing 911,000 views. "In my 24 years in the city I'd never seen it and was so shocked," Ashley, from New York City, told What's The Jam. "How could something I usually see as gross be so adorable?"

"Rats truly contain multitudes."

"When I saw them I knew immediately what they were since the rats grace me with their presence every time I'm walking around at night."

Ashley, a stand-up comedian, captured the scenes during an early morning dog walk on February 16, 2026.

The thin blanket of snow exposed just how teeming with rat activity her neighborhood gets after nightfall.

Once the clip hit the internet, it accumulated an impressive 53,700 likes and ignited a flood of conflicting reactions from viewers.

Ashley noted: "I felt like a scientist collecting data but like, for TikTok the-mirror-icon_news_us-news_animals.

"I don't know if that's sad but it's true.

"These are the times we live in."

She went on to add: "People seemed to think they were cute but some people were horrified."

Opinions remained split among viewers watching the "rat highway" footage. One person observed: "People living with rats and it's normalised, you live in a sh*t city, literally."

Another added: "Where do you live so I can make sure to never be there at night."

Meanwhile, someone else declared: "They are so cute."

A separate commenter noted: "Rats and pigeons run the city and I say it with love, love them all."