By Alice Gibbs
Senior Reporter
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A terrified woman's post has gone viral on Mumsnet after she shared that a mysterious "black shape" ran through her legs while she was eating dinner.
On February 13, user WeirdlyKind wrote: "I'm seriously creeped out and can't figure out a rational explanation so I'm hoping someone can!
"[I was] sitting in the kitchen eating dinner when a black shape ran past my legs, close enough that I felt it pass. [I] figured it was my cat at first but when I stood up, she was sitting on the windowsill!"
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The poster shared that the mystery animal then jumped away and vanished.
"The dog is now going mental at the sideboard, like there is something there. If there is, we can't find it!" explained the poster. "Anyone have a rational explanation? What did we see?"
The question was met with over 300 responses as Mumsnet users pondered what the mystery animal could have been.
"Ghost cat," wrote one user, while others agreed: "Definitely a ghost cat."
But other posters suggested more mundane responses, with one forumite writing: "Mouse or rat, for sure." Others agreed: "It'll be a rat. They go quick. There will be a small gap somewhere you haven't noticed."
At a loss, the original poster WeirdlyKind responded that: "I'd rather have a rat than a ghost I think," but confirmed she had still not moved the sideboard as it was too heavy to move.
While ghost cats aren't something you hear of every day, a recent Statista survey found that one-third of Americans believe in ghosts. Some 24 percent of respondents reported that they have seen, or believed themselves to be in the presence of, a ghost—while women are more likely than men to report having seen or felt the presence of a ghost.
As the evening drew on, Mumsnet users continued to guess the identity of the so-called "ghost cat," with many agreeing with the rat suggestion and others determined the poster had a feline visitor from another realm.
Two and a half hours after the first post, the mystery was solved.
"We're all wrong!" wrote the user WeirdlyKind: "It was next door's rabbit! Sitting watching TV and it hopped out from behind the TV unit. Nearly gave me a heart attack!"
A survey from the American Pet Products Association revealed that 6.2 million U.S. households own a small animal, with 28% reporting that they own a rabbit – the most popular of the small animals listed.
For this runaway rabbit, there was a happy ending. Named Pippin, the poster shared a picture of the visitor and confirmed her relief: "I'll absolutely take a rabbit over a rat any day!"
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