What is is that's so unappealing about rodents?

I have gerbils, and a lot of people I know are afraid of them/grossed out by them, and i want to know what people think is so wierd. Honest answers, please!!!!What is is that's so unappealing about rodents?
Flare, ferrets arent rodents...





i think people tend to have a problem with rodents, as mice and rats are seen as diseased pests.


its just people acting on stereotypes


...although i bet those same people wouldnt have a problem with guinea pigs or beavers, which are too rodents.





very few rodents nowadays, especially domestic ones can harm humans - most are actually clean and nice.


without sounding nasty, people who say animals like that are gross etc are just uneducated and ignorant :)What is is that's so unappealing about rodents?
Rodents are known for pretty much one thing, disease. Remember all of those stories and history lessons about the plague? Even these days there are warnings everywhere about not touching wild mice, or if certain fleas that were in contact with rats bite you, or if a certain mouse poops in your house, etc. you can get a long list of illness. Beyond that, they're small, quick and some people find their looks to be revolting. They also have a nice reputation of being vicious biters.





Obviously a domestic, tame gerbil isn't going to have any of these problems, but people are still going to be cautious.





Edit: To the person below me, if you read all of my answer you'd see that I did not specifically say that rats caused the plague, and I even mentioned that illness comes from the fleas on rats. Maybe you should actually read something before freaking out over it, hm? Also, all wild animals, rodent or not, do have some threat of having some kind of disease on them.
i personally love gerbils and any animal. The only reasons i could think of that makes people grossed out by them or afraid of them is that-they associate gerbils with rats and they immediately think Sewer rats. But i have a rat and rats are quite clean. People might be afraid of them because they think they bite...But who knows.
first off, little news flash, the plague was NOT caused by rats but by fleas on rats.





i dont know why theyre so unappealing. i have 3 rats and i remember watching a show before i got them on NY city rats and how they can have a bite so strong they go right down to the bone. but then i also learned rats do not bite and if they do they were bred improperly.
i breed dumbo rats and have found them to be the best pet i have ever owned


i think its just ignorance if they aint held a rat they dont know what there missing id RATher have a rat than a hamster as rat dont bite hamsters do
Ohh, k, well thats good :)