why are most people natively scared of tiny rodents and insects like cockroaches, rats, mice etc, even though they are order of magnitudes smaller than ourselves?

Question

Is this phenomenon prevalent in any other species?

In: Earth Science

Answer 1

Apparently elephants are scared of mice… but the reason we innately fear rodents and cockroaches is because they frequently spoil or contaminate our food stores. They also in plague situations destroy crops and eat considerable amounts of stored grain. [In my state ](https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/mice-holes-everywhere-the-plague-threatening-our-farmers-summer-crop-20210207-p5708q.html) for example they are bating for mice in the hope to **limit** losses to 100kg/hectare (220lb/11,960 square yards or 0.3 ounce/yard^2 or a bit over a heaped teaspoon of sugar) which given most farms are measured in 100’s and 1000’s of hectares is a lot to be the minimum you hope to lose.