Beware the 'rat king'! Gruesome phenomenon made up of 13 rodents whose tails were intertwined is discovered in Estonia - a rare sighting said to be an omen of the plague.

AN EXTREMELY rare "rat king" omen which is said to indicate an impending plague has been discovered. ... Johan Uibopuu, discovered 13 rats clumped together among his mother's chickens.

For superstitious medieval villagers the rat king was an omen of looming disasters, and was particularly associated with plagues. ... He said two of the 13 rats were already dead. ...

13 rats had gotten stuck in this particular situation. According to Miljutin, this is a very rare finding. There have been some 60 registered cases of "rat kings" found in the last 500 years. Usually, ...