Watch the skin-crawling moment a RAT crawls up the leg of a sleeping commuter on the New York City subway

This is the skin-crawling moment a rat crawled over a sleeping commuter on the New York City subway.

The shocking video was widely shared online, with hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok and Twitter.

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Footage shows a man in a blue puffer jacket and Nike hat sleeping on a train bound for City Hall in New York.

And then suddenly the rodent scampers around its feet while the cameraman zooms in for a better view.

The rat is then clearly seen scurrying over his foot and then his leg before beginning to climb his torso.

The dozing man climbs over him and sits slumped in his seat – no smarter than his new little friend.

The rat then climbs onto his shoulders and perches behind his neck.

And with the creature on his back, the man finally wakes up.

With a confused look on his face, the man then lays his hands on his back to feel what must be a rather tickling sensation.

Then he seems to realize what is happening and stands bolt upright.

The rat then falls to the ground before trotting off under the train’s seat.

The rat’s video appears to have been shared first by Twitter user Jaz (@Jazzie654).

It’s unclear when the clip was filmed – but it’s only now surfaced online.

“I didn’t realize there were rats on New York City subways or any subway,” Jaz wrote.

The video had more than 755,000 views on Twitter at the time of publication.

And it has been viewed more than 14 million times on TikTok after being shared by the SubwayCreatures account.

“I didn’t feel urgent enough about that reaction,” the user, who regularly shares footage of the trains beneath NYC, shared the clip.

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TikTokers were stunned by the video – and impressed by the man’s relatively level-headed reaction.

“New fear unleashed,” wrote one.

Another added: “Bro was too quiet I thought they knew each other.”

“New York must be used to it. If that ever happened in London the whole carriage would scream and it would be on the news!” wrote another.

Others said, “Brother was so relaxed”, “I can’t believe how calm he was” and “Why didn’t anyone say anything to him!”.

Some speculated that the animal might actually be his pet, but others pointed to his confused reaction to the end when he realized what was happening to him as proof the footage wasn’t staged.

And it’s not the first time such an incident has been filmed, with other videos available online showing rats on the subway – including scores of other unsuspecting people crawling.

It comes after the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene confirmed sightings of rats doubled in 2022.

“It is frightening. It’s unsettling. It’s unsafe. And it’s unhealthy,” Chany Marcus, a local resident, told NBC New York.

Roxanne Burey, another New Yorker, said, “Everyone walks in the middle of the street because [the rats] walking on the sidewalks”

Health inspectors documented approximately 60,000 cases of rodent activity in New York’s five boroughs.

However, City Hall said the rise was due to an increase in visits from inspectors.

Before Covid, health inspectors recorded about 31,000 rodent sightings from 255,000 property visits in 2018.

But last year inspectors made about 5,000 fewer home visits — but still documented 93 percent more rat sightings.

Councilor Julie Menin blames garbage collection for the cuts.

“It’s reached a breaking point, a crisis point in the city,” she said.