I have found kids fall into two camps, either 'Rats! Great!' or 'Awww big mices...' and then rapid backing away when they realise that they are rats. I am sure you can educate minimac accordingly!
My mum used to be horrified at the thought of the tails, but she's not bothered by them now, and thinks its very clever they way they use them to balance.
(NB, you can't just have one, as they are social animals that like to groom each other and snuggle up etc, a pair will do nicely).
Sorry for ratty hijack Kathy!