Hundreds Of Street Rats Were Taken In By A Peruvian Man Who Trained Them To Do Tricks

Screenshot via YouTube

Rats are such interesting creatures. They’re usually associated with dirt and disease, but they’re also some of the most popular animals on the internet.

Those who have been around rats for longer than a few seconds (hey, that’s how long it usually takes us before we run screaming!) know that they’re highly intelligent creatures.

And no one knows this fact better than Miguel Angel Silva, affectionately known as the “Rat Man of Peru“.

Recently, a TikTok went viral showing a man on the streets of Lima playing with a group of rats on the sidewalk. The video begins with what can only be described as a rat-version of Cirque du Soleil.

The man holds his finger out like a trapeze before one of his rat friends jumps onto his finger and flips around on it like a trapeze artist.

The video continues with the man crouched on the ground, his rats in an orderly line in front of him.

It’s immediately evident that these aren’t your ordinary rats–they’re super obedient. Trained, even.

To make things even more entertaining, the TikTok poster captioned the video with: “Yo haciendo malabares con mi ex.” (“Me playing games with my ex.”)

While the TikToker doesn’t identify the man, he is very-well known to locals. His name is Miguel Angel Silva, otherwise known as “Ratman”.

Silva has been covered extensively by different media channels for his abnormal lifestyle. Not only does he perform tricks with his rats on the street, but he also lives with them–around 100 of them, to be exact.

Silva, who is also a drummer in local rock bands, spends almost all of his time with the rats–he often has one on his shoulder as a travel companion. Camera crew have followed him as he goes about his normal day, running errands, playing music–all with a rat on his shoulder. They even eat from the same plates as him.

In various interviews, Silva has revealed that his love for rats started as a child, when he saved a rat from being killed from his friend. The rat ended up living in his roof for a while before he permanently befriended it. It was then that Ratman was born.

Silva says he loves rats because they are misunderstood creatures, shunned and abused by the public.

He acknowledges that many people judge him harshly for his lifestyle, thinking he is dirty and his home is unsanitary. But Silva says he keeps his rats clean, washing them everyday and making sure they’re never infected with dangerous parasites.

We’re glad Silva is following his dreams regardless of what people think. Hopefully, we’ll see him on the streets of Peru one day.