Afraid of Rats?

Lean in close because I'd like to keep this just between you and me.  When I was 13 my family vacationed in an old chateau in France thanks to one of my dad's work connections.  It was surreal--a house that was there during the French Revolution.  We spent days exploring all the rooms, looking into strange boxes and wondering how the local noble had managed to escape the terror unscathed (he hid in a closet--the only one that wasn't searched--then went out a secret passage in the wine cellar.  Really).

One morning we were in what I believe had been the childrens' nursery, so most of the boxes contained old toys or cobwebs.  My older brother and sister picked up a box and said "Whoa!  What's this?"  It moved.  As my brother held it in his hands, something inside it scurried furiously and scratched the sides of the box.  I calmly walked over to the nearest bed and stood on it.  Ok, that's what I thought I was doing in my head, really I had some sort of freakish anxiety attack wherein I calmly walked in my head but I actually began screaming and jumping up and down towards the bed, trying to leave my feet on the ground for as little time as possible.
EEK! *jump*
EEEEEK!! *jump*
EEEEEKKK!!!*jump*  

My voice became more shrill and desperate every time my feet had to touch the floor. Then, when I had reached the bed and everyone was staring at me, my two siblings smirked and opened the box to reveal a toy wind-up mouse, which THEY HAD ACTUALLY FOUND EARLIER THAT MORNING AND PUT BACK IN THE BOX.

Why tell you this?  As a warning.  If you get this thing anywhere near me don't plan on making it out of my house alive.  And I'm looking at you Siblings #1 and #2.  Yeah.  You know who you are.

(source here)