What makes a huge elephant wary of a small mouse? Why are elephants afraid of mice?

Why are elephants afraid of mice? Where did such a strange statement come from, and is it true that a giant elephant has a fear of a small mouse?

Weighing about seven tons. Height is about four meters. Impressive? This is an elephant. This word alone speaks for itself, generating a whole chain of associations. Is there anyone in the animal world who would dare to compete with this hero of the animal kingdom?

And is this hero capable of being afraid of at least someone? It would seem that this is impossible, but popular rumor continues to develop one conviction with enviable persistence.

Elephants suffer from a paradoxical phobia, which is that these huge animals supposedly experience panic fear in front of the mice.

Some people even try to find an explanation for this fear. For example, that the mice, being near the elephants, try to gnaw the elephant's heels, which are supposedly distinguished by extraordinary sensitivity, which causes wild pain in the elephants and even attacks of suffocation.

Elephants are afraid of mice - myth or truth?

Some even argue that mice love to climb into the trunk of elephants, getting almost to the very insides, where they arrange houses, and which damage with their sharp teeth. We, perhaps, will not analyze the last statement due to its incredible absurdity generated by the extreme degree of ignorance, next to which we can put only the biblical prophet Jonah, who allegedly sat in the intestines of this animal feeding on plankton for three days. But regarding the heels gnawed by mice, it is worth saying a few words to debunk, finally, this ridiculous delusion.

First, let's look at the "elephant thunderstorm" itself - mice. What was the reason that they were accused of the machinations that they allegedly inflict on these giants? Most likely, the reason is that they saw mice in the cages in which elephants were kept in zoos and circuses.

However, the mice did not look into the elephant abodes in order to mend the intrigues of the good-natured giants and gnaw their fragrant heels, arranging cozy burrows in their trunks.

In fact, everything is much more prosaic and mice in elephant cages are primarily interested in the remains of elephant meals. Usually these are root vegetables or pieces of bread, but nothing more. Actually, mice do not need more for happiness. And even if some kind of extreme-leaning mouse decided to look into the elephant's trunk, the elephant would very quickly and effectively blow it out of there.

In any case, it is difficult to imagine that, having a high sensitivity of the trunk, an elephant began to tolerate something extraneous in it. It is enough to recall the force with which jets of water fly out of the elephant's trunk in order to get an idea of ​​the force with which a “lost rodent would fly out of there. In view of all of the above, it becomes clear that elephants have no reason to fear mice.

In order to confirm this, an interesting experiment was even carried out. Having gathered a group of elephants, the scientists released several mice in front of them.

At first, these huge animals backed away a little. This is understandable, because, like any other animal, elephants prefer not to come into contact with something unfamiliar, even if it is small in size.

This demeanor is all the more justified, since those living in wildlife elephants often suffer from very small, but deadly snakes, which can, if not kill, then cripple, if not an adult elephant, then their young. Seeing a snake in the distance, elephants, as a rule, sharply change their direction of movement so as not to ask for trouble. Lions, which can hunt elephants, also pose a certain danger. So, despite all the power, caution, as can be seen from what has been said, is never excessive.

However, after a short retreat, the elephants settled in the company of mice and even accidentally crushed several rodents. True, some people expressed the idea that they did it deliberately and out of fear, however, it will no longer be possible to establish this for sure. Most likely, this happened by chance, but whatever the reasons for the death of the mice participating in the experiment, one thing was clear: elephants do not have any innate dislike for mice, showing only usual caution and nothing more.

True, despite the fact that elephants do not experience any fear of tiny mice, there is still one small animal that can really bring an elephant to a state of panic and which, by the way, is an order of magnitude smaller than a mouse. This formidable animal is called the African honey bee.

Elephants are one of the largest animals on earth, reaching a height of 4 meters and are capable of scaring anyone. With all this, there is an opinion that they are terribly afraid of tiny rodents - mice. This does not seem logical and is difficult to rationalize. Treatment in Israel sign up for israel-hospitals.ru

What are the opinions about why elephants are afraid of rodents?

It is believed that such fear is subconscious, based on genetic memory. Allegedly a long time ago, when elephants first encountered rodents in nature, there were a lot of them. They gnawed the heels of animals to the bone, moreover, they could make holes in their limbs. For the same reason, elephants still sleep while standing. True, this is not logical, since horses, which are not afraid of mice, also sleep while standing. However, if elephants slept sitting or lying on their side, their trunks would end up on the ground, but in this case, the mice could climb into them and cut off their breathing, causing the animal to die. There have been such cases.

But it sounds quite true that the mice, with their small, but sharp teeth, gnawed the interdigital joints of elephants, which was very painful for the latter, and, moreover, prevented them from moving.

There is another, much more hilarious theory. Mice that can climb onto elephants will tickle them very strongly with their paws, but the huge animal not only does not like it terribly, but it will not be able to scratch on its own, it will suffer.

Are elephants really afraid of mice?

But you need to know that all these theories and assumptions are nothing more than a myth. In fact, elephants are not at all afraid of small rodents. Scientists have proven this, but it is not their task to fight fairy tales. This belief is rooted in Indian mythology, but there it was allegorical. The bottom line was that the giant was justifiably afraid of the tiny, wretched man. And for comparison, they took, of course, the largest and smallest animal.

In zoos, mice are always found in the vicinity of elephant enclosures. But not at all out of vanity, they eat up for their huge neighbors.

In fact, this is a joke, the elephants in the video feast on salt.

The legend of the fear of mice and elephants dates back more than 2000 years. Its author was Pliny the Elder, a Roman encyclopedist. He noticed strange behavior huge animals with the sudden appearance of rodents. And he described this fact in the work "Natural History". Since then, humanity has believed in a long-standing myth, supporting its right to exist with stories from fairy tales and cartoons. Is this really so?

Different hypotheses: what makes elephants afraid of mice

People have cited various evidences in favor of the panic fear of small pests by the owners of trunks. Allegedly, insidious mice can gnaw the base of the giant's legs, in the heel of which the skin is softer and softer than in any other.

Some argued that the rodent is even able to live in the folds of the elephant's body for some time and feed without getting out. The giant suffers greatly from powerlessness to do anything, and therefore is terrified of dangerous babies.

But it is unlikely that the mouse will be guided by the motto: "And who tried to eat the elephant?" The nimble nibbler is cautious. The instinct of self-preservation will not allow ridiculous risks, because in the feeder of the "tenant in the cage" there is a lot of delicious food to arrange a safe feast. And food nearby at natural conditions more.

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Other minds attributed the ability of mice to climb into the trunk and cause suffocation of its owner. But after evaluating the size, it becomes clear that the giant only needs to sneeze or blow to shake the intruder out of the organ, like a bullet from a gun. In addition, the elephant calmly breathes through its mouth if necessary.

Experimental results

The time of tireless work to debunk the absurd arguments fell on these days... Practitioners-scientists hastened to conduct a number of experiments on experimental elephants in captivity, with the participation of their "deadly" enemies. As a result, only poor mice have endured the fear. They had to go through many trials for the sake of science. They were launched into the cages of the elephants one at a time, then in droves. They brought calm giants to their eyes and put them on their backs, wishing to frighten the latter. They buried them in the feeders, expecting to see the horror of the animal when fluffy crumbs suddenly appeared from there. And they even deliberately pushed them into their trunks. But all was in vain.

Are you afraid of mice? Most likely many of you are very afraid of mice. In old cartoons, we can often find a scene in which the hostess in the kitchen, seeing a mouse, immediately jumps onto a chair. No matter how ridiculous it may seem, in fact, many of us would have done so. But is it true that such a large animal as an elephant is afraid of mice? Is this true, because an elephant can crush a mouse and not even notice it?

Myth or truth

According to recent reports, this is just a myth. The assertion that elephants are afraid of mice is also called an urban legend. This fact widely popularized in cartoons, movies, books, comics and other media. There are several different versions of where this came from.

One of the simplest versions is the opposition of the largest animal to a small mouse. Especially in cartoons, it looks very fun when a huge elephant runs from a tiny mouse. This technique is used quite often.

There are still some misconceptions. For example, many people think that an elephant is afraid of mice because they can climb into its trunk and stop breathing. In fact, it is enough for an elephant to sneeze several times for a mouse to fly out of its trunk.

How elephants relate to mice

There is an entertaining television show in the USA called Mythbusters. In one of the episodes, the presenters traveled to Africa to check the urban legend. They hid the mouse on the path of the elephant in the dung heap. When the elephant passed by, the manure was lifted and the mouse ran out of there. At the same time, the elephant walked around the pile. If the manure was lifted without a mouse, then the elephant continued to walk straight. Of course, many of this concluded that the elephant is afraid of the mouse.

However, scientists who have studied the elephant's reaction believe that the elephant was not afraid of the mouse, but it was just a surprise to him. The elephant did not run away in fear, it was just an unexpected surprise for him.

Data from zoos show that elephants get along well with mice. For example, elephants eat hay, and mice are often seen next to the hay. Elephants are not afraid of them and do not pay any attention to them. Some elephants even allowed mice to climb on their tails and heads.

In the tales and myths of many peoples, there is a legend about a giant coward and a small or even little creature defeating the giant. Let us recall at least the giant Goliath, whom young David killed with a stone from a sling. Ancient myths about little brave men are reflected in modern times: for example, the mouse from the cartoon "Tom and Jerry" always defeats the cat, although in real life such an outcome of the battle between these animals is hardly possible. Then why are elephants afraid of mice? Is this a myth or a truth?

People have great reverence for the opinions of reputable scientists. Aristotle wrote that a spider has six legs - and this was considered an indisputable fact until two thousand years ago, the historian and naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote that elephants are afraid of mice, and many people still share this opinion. According to Pliny, the mighty African giants don't even want to eat food that stinks of mice. They say that their whole herds flee at the sight of only one mouse that appears in front of them. Could this be so and, most importantly, why?

An ancient Roman scientist put forward several versions explaining why elephants are afraid of mice. According to one of them, vile rodents gnaw through the interdigital joints of elephants, which makes their paws vulnerable. Small nimble animals manage to gnaw the heels of elephants at night and even make burrows for themselves in the warmth of a giant body to bring out their young! Therefore, elephants prefer to sleep while standing - so as not to tempt fate. In addition, Pliny assured that mice have a habit of sneaking into the trunk of giants, which can suffocate them. Thus, even these intelligent animals, at the reflex level, have an overwhelming fear of these babies.

The opinion of the eminent scientist was considered immutable, people only looked for additional explanations as to why elephants are afraid of mice. But in Europe, circuses and zoos appeared, in which they began to keep elephants. Then the animal caretakers noticed that mice always start near the cages and enclosures with giants. This is not surprising: elephants do not have the sharpest eyesight, they often leave pieces of food (bran, fruits and root crops), and what is a crumb for such a giant, for a small animal - food for a week. However, humans have seen that elephants react calmly to tiny cage mates. True, they did not eat food with rodents, but on the other hand, would you eat food in which something moves? As soon as the mouse left the armful of hay, the powerful animal began to chew it calmly.

It was then that people seriously thought: are elephants afraid of mice? They began to conduct research. They let rodents along the route of the herd of giants. If short-sighted giants saw tiny animals, they carefully stepped over them or avoided them, but most often the mice found their death under huge paws. People tried to show the mouse to the elephant, but, contrary to Pliny the Elder, he did not recoil and did not show any panic, but, on the contrary, reached for her with his trunk to sniff an unfamiliar animal, and then lost all interest in him. Even if you let the rat walk on the mighty back of the giant, he will not lead his ear. And if suddenly some mouse decides to commit suicide and for this purpose it climbs into the elephant's trunk, the giant has only to sneeze, the tiny animal will fly a couple of meters away.

Maybe, scientists wondered, the secret of why elephants are afraid of mice lies not in the rodents themselves, but in the suddenness of their appearance? Or their squeak? The largest land animals have a well-developed hearing and, hearing a mouse squeak, they really listen carefully. But then calmness returns to them, and they continue to go about their business. What's the matter? Scientists have only recently discovered a mystery. Elephants - at least African ones - are afraid honey bee that is found on this continent. Bees live in huge colonies of several thousand insects. The buzzing of one bee means there are others nearby. And elephants don't want to mess with a wild swarm of angry bees. Hence the conclusion of scientists: having heard a mouse squeak, cautious giants listen intently - aren't they bees?