There is an old rumor, which many believe, that suggests the idea that elephants are afraid of mice. On TV and in the cinema, however many times the characters become or become friends after meeting each other, there are many cases in which this vision is presented.

An example of this is the excerpt from the Disney movie “Dumbo, ” in which the mouse Timothy appears to the huge elephants in the circus who scorned the protagonist. Even Dumbo himself is afraid before becoming friends with the little rodent.

The big elephants watching the mouse Timothy in the scene of the movie "Dumbo"

However, Science's answer to the title question is "no." Elephants may be afraid, but they will not be the mouse itself, according to various studies and tests in the world. What can happen is that huge mammals get scared of anything that comes running, or bustling, suddenly and without prior announcement. This is due to the poor visual quality of these large animals.

Elephant and rat studies

One of the experiments that shows the true relationship of elephants with mice is the basic fright test conducted by the elephant trainer of a famous international circus. He held several white mice and showed each of the herd giants members of the pack. A reporter for the ABC television network was present and reported that the big animals did not even have any reaction, seeming not to care about the presence of rodents.

This test reinforces the results obtained by researcher FG Benedict. In the 1930s, he let rats into the elephant grounds of a zoo. At no time did the large mammals change or have significant reactions when the animals entered their field of vision. The situation remained calm even when the rodents even climbed into their bodies. However, an interesting finding showed another side. When one of the rats passed over a piece of paper, the noise startled some of the elephants, who even shouted.

Giant captive-bred mammals often have regular contact with wandering mice, but almost never show any disturbance. That is, what can scare elephants is not the mice directly, but any sudden movement or unexpected noise they or any other animal produces.

Animals that really scare the elephants

If rats aren't directly scary to elephants, there are two species even smaller than them that can terrorize giants: bees and ants. According to a 2010 study, large herbivorous mammals avoid consuming plants that have ant infestations. The reason is their fear that these insects will enter their trunk, as this is how the guardian ants defend their colonies and tingles from the elephants.

In the same way, bees cause great fanfare in large mammal communities. They are all agitated and disperse when they see swarms approaching and, through their ability to communicate over long distances, warn other members of the same species of danger. This condition of elephants relative to bees leads scientists to study the possibility of using these insects to keep herds of large animals from cultivated fields and populated areas.

***

Want to know more about elephants? Access 10 interesting facts that can change your view of elephants and 10 things that elephants and humans have in common.

* Posted on 11/23/2015

***

Did you know that Curious Mega is also on Instagram? Click here to follow us and stay on top of exclusive curiosities!