SEE: Rat Gets Trapped In MetroCard Machine

NEW YORK — An intrepid rat boldly went where no creature has likely gone before: Inside a MetroCard vending machine. Like straphangers confined to a stalled train, a viral video circulated Tuesday shows the unfortunate rodent trapped in the machine's receipt slot, seemingly unsure of how to escape.

It's entirely unclear how the rat got into a position to give anyone reaching for change a handful of fur. But the MTA says it's investigating whether the whole thing was a setup.

"This is very troubling and we’re looking into how it could’ve happened, including the possibility that someone may have planted it," MTA spokesman Andrei Berman said. "This is clearly an anomaly and the recent Subway Action Plan, Group Station Manager program and deep clean program have been helping to get stations significantly cleaner."

The rat was spotted at the 18th Street station in Chelsea, according to Gothamist. Nicole Ranucci reportedly took the video and it was shared by the famous Subway Creatures account on Instagram, where it had more than 444,000 views as of Tuesday evening.

The critter invited comparisons to the famous Pizza Rat, which turned out to be an infamous hoax. But some Twitter users suggested that the subway's rodent inhabitants might be better at running the system than its current overlords.

"(U)nlike Cuomo, at least the rats actually take the subway, so I'm ready for murine stewardship of the MTA," Madame Sosostris tweeted.

See the video of the MetroCard rat below.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the day when the video was circulated. It was on Tuesday, not Monday.