Tucked into the steps and railing at the corner of William and Ostend streets in Federal Hill, a repurposed vintage medicine cabinet has become one of Baltimore's most unexpected neighborhood attractions. Inside, tiny handmade rats wait to be adopted by whoever happens to walk by, and most of them don't last the day.
The installation, known as the Rat Shack, was created by local artist Meg Murray, who built it from a salvaged metal medicine cabinet she bought at Second Chance, a nonprofit architectural salvage warehouse in South Baltimore, according to Baltimore Fishbowl. Chalk art drawn on the sidewalk railing near the cabinet helps guide passersby directly to the display, per the same outlet. As Fox45 News reports, the Rat Shack has become a viral sensation in Baltimore, with Murray telling the station's Lady T about how the project came together.
Murray places roughly eight new needle-felted rats inside the cabinet each day, and they're typically snapped up within hours, according to CBS Baltimore. She has said the felting process gives her a creative outlet that helps her avoid doomscrolling, the station reports. Demand regularly outpaces her daily restock, meaning early risers have the best shot at scoring one of the tiny critters.
Inside the Miniature Fells Point Homage
The cabinet's interior isn't just a holding pen for felted rodents. Baltimore Fishbowl describes three miniature floors styled to resemble a classic Fells Point rowhome or venue, complete with exposed brick, graffiti art, potted plants, and artwork. The detail has turned the piece into as much a work of visual art as it is a giveaway box, drawing visitors who linger to admire the tiny rooms even after the rats themselves are gone.
Murray has also built in a safety notice for adopters. Per Baltimore Fishbowl, she cautions that the handmade rats contain small parts that pose a choking hazard to infants and small toddlers, and she advises anyone taking one home to make sure the recipient is old enough to handle it safely.
Part of a Bigger Baltimore Rat Moment
The Rat Shack isn't the first time Federal Hill has leaned into rat-themed fun. Federal Hill Main Street organized the Great Federal Hill Rat Race in April, a one-mile neighborhood walk that included a rat costume contest and free rat noses for early participants, according to the organization's own event announcement.
That playful spirit exists alongside a far less whimsical reality. Baltimore's Department of Public Works completed more than 109,985 rat removal visits in 2024 under its Rat Rubout Program, with 311 rodent service calls rising more than 10 percent compared to the prior year, per data reported by Pest Czar. The city expanded a rat birth control initiative using the liquid contraceptive ContraPest across all 14 council districts in February, following a 2025 pilot, as CBS News has reported. Pest control company Orkin ranked Baltimore No. 9 on its 2024 Top 50 Rattiest Cities list, based on the volume of new residential treatment requests, according to Patch.
Baltimore's fraught relationship with rats has even inspired serious cultural examination. Filmmaker Theo Anthony's 2016 documentary Rat Film used the city's rat population to explore the history of redlining, urban planning and racial segregation, and the film aired nationally on PBS Independent Lens in 2018. Against that backdrop, the Rat Shack offers something different: a small, handmade counterpoint that turns Baltimore's most maligned resident into a neighborhood keepsake worth walking out of your way for.
