Cute but deadly

The Black Death plague was without question one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. It peaked in Europe between the years 1346-1353, and it's estimated to have caused between 75 to 200 million deaths, with many successive outbreaks over the next four centuries. That's at a time when total world population was around 450 million!

Oops, sorry about ruining your reputation, rats

The plague originated in Asia and was brought to Europe via trade on the silk road that linked the continents at the time. Until recently, the main hypothesis blamed the spread of the epidemic to Europe on rats, which carried infected fleas. But researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, might have found a new culprit.By studying weather patterns at the time, the scientists concluded that it was unlikely that the conditions necessary for the outbreak to be caused by rats were present. But conditions were good for another kind of animal: