New York, New York - A TikTok video of a rat running up an escalator going the opposite direction in a New York City subway station has the internet cackling. It doesn't look like this animal will win the rat race!

The little rat's escalator adventure seems like an endless race.

On Wednesday, TikTok user Jimmy James posted a cell phone video of the rodent trying to climb up the stairs of an escalator that was going down.

The animal's aim seemed hopeless, but the video, set to the Rocky theme music, was a hit, earning over seven million views since it was shared.

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Some TikTok users joked that the rat is probably still trying to jump to the top of the stairs. Others joked that this is what the proverbial rat race feels like in 2024.

These pessimistic social media commenters, however, were too quick to proclaim the rat's race doomed, as a second video posted by Jimmy James proved.

As it turns out, the rat made it to the top of the escalator even though the stairs were moving against him. Once the rat made it to the top, he quickly disappeared.

While this rat's determination was the talk of TikTok, rats aren't usually celebrated in the Big Apple.

NYC is considered the "second-rattiest" city, per the pest control company Orkin. The only city that's got more rodents is Chicago, which has held the top spot for the past eight years.

These furry city dwellers are a real nuisance, which is why New York has its own Director of Rodent Mitigation or "rat czar."