These Things May Seem The Same, But They Have Some Pretty Important Differences

One Is Adorable, One Is Credited With Killing 1/3 Of Europe

Photo credit: Horst Helwig/McPhoto/Ullstein Bild/Tony Margiocchi/Barcroft Images/Barcroft Media/Getty Images

Mice and rats are equally creepy to a lot of people, but there are some not-so-subtle differences. While they both belong to the murid rodent classification, mice are adorable, and rats are terrifying. Mice have round, floppy ears, are usually smaller, and are surprisingly timid.

Rats are the exact opposite. They can be almost twice are large, have coarser fur, and a long, scaly tail. They are also much less timid, which means they are fearless when it comes to entering a city or house and taking all your food. This contact with humans can be deadly, as most of Europe found out during the Black Plague, which most people accept as being spread by rats.