Is it true that elephants are afraid of mice? Elephants are afraid of mice - is this true? Various hypotheses: why elephants are afraid of mice

To a simple question: “Who are elephants most afraid of?” Many, without hesitation, would answer: “Of course, mice.” And they would be absolutely wrong. Because in fact, elephants are not afraid of mice. Scientists specifically conducted experiments, releasing small rodents into enclosures with these giants. At the same time, the elephants felt anything but fear.

The statement that elephants are terrified of mice is known to everyone. This is written about in fiction and popular science literature (and sometimes, by the way, in school textbooks), and spoken about in various television and radio programs, and feature films. Moreover, sometimes interesting details are given - as if, just seeing the approach of a small rodent, the elephant immediately takes off running. Or they tell stories about how, with the help of mice, residents of tropical villages drive away voracious giants from their crops (and no one wonders why the problem of crop damage by elephants is still one of the most acute in Africa and India).

At times they even try to justify this statement somehow. For example, they say that the reason for fear is that a mouse can get into an elephant’s trunk and cause discomfort (and even cause the elephant to suffocate). They also say that a mouse can gnaw the soles of an elephant while sleeping - that’s why these giants always sleep standing up. Well, and finally, they claim that elephants are frightened by the rustling sounds made by mice, and elephants are generally afraid of any rustling sounds.

However, for many people no proof is needed - this statement is practically an axiom, approximately the same as the statement that “through a point on a plane you can draw only one line parallel to the given one.” Although, in fact, those who think so do not even suspect that they are simply repeating one of the myths. Which, by the way, appeared not so long ago.

Reports of elephant “mousephobia” first appeared at the beginning of the 19th century. Moreover, this version was not disseminated by zoologists, but by journalists. They all referred to the words of trainers and circus workers, who told them the following: when a new elephant appears in the circus, you need to carefully monitor that mice do not approach him (and they always strive to climb into his enclosure, since they are interested in crumbs from the “elephant table”) "). Because if the mouse does get into the cage, the elephant will begin to get nervous - backing away, trumpeting, trying to stand on its hind legs, etc. In the end, the matter may end either in the death of the giant from fright, or in the breakdown of the enclosure and a long chase for an escaped elephant.

It is interesting that such publications quickly attracted the interest of scientists. As a result, several experiments were carried out with mice and elephants. A variety of animals (that is, males, females, and calves of both African and Asian elephants) were exposed to mice, a lot of them, in cages. For the experiment, both newly caught giants and those that had lived in captivity for a long time were selected. However, the result in all cases was the same - the elephants did not even think of being afraid of small and cute rodents.

Researchers did a lot of things in such experiments: they put mice on the trunk and inside it, hid mice in elephant food, launched these rodents at sleeping giants, etc. But it was all in vain - the elephants never showed much fear, even when a mouse ran along their trunks. Moreover, elephants that had several rodents thrown into their cage often deliberately pulled their trunks toward the small animals to sniff them, and sometimes lightly picked them up with their “fifth limb” and brought them closer to their eyes. It is also interesting that during such experiments, many mice were accidentally crushed by elephants, and it seems that the giants were very sorry for their carelessness.

However, some recently captured elephants, upon seeing mice for the first time, actually initially backed away and did not dare to come into contact with them. However, when the rodents were reintroduced, they showed curiosity. It turns out that here we cannot talk about any specific “mousephobia” - the elephant only demonstrated caution.

It is known that these giants are conservative, and any new object initially worries them. It is not surprising that wild elephants showed exactly the same reaction when rabbits, chickens and dachshunds were introduced into their enclosure. But what is most interesting is that the elephant, although he felt insecure, still did not panic and never even tried to attack a creature he had never seen before.

So, as we see, experiments have proven the complete inconsistency of the statement that elephants are afraid of mice. However, if you think about it, the argument given above was itself quite weak. Let's start with the fact that elephants in nature do not always sleep standing up - if there is an opportunity to lie down, the elephant does it. They sleep standing only during the hottest part of the day, since the ground, which quickly heats up at dawn, can provide the elephant with a quick heat shock. And during the rainy season, elephants do not deny themselves the pleasure of lying down.

Moreover, the statement that a mouse can chew through the soles of elephants is not true. Firstly, any mouse that finds itself next to such a giant as an elephant has every chance of dying from heatstroke - can you imagine how much heat a giant’s body heats up during the day?

Secondly, think for yourself, why would mice, who mainly eat plant foods, waste their energy and time gnawing on an elephant’s legs? Does she have nothing better to do? Well, and finally, although the skin in some places on the soles of elephants is thinner than the average on the animal’s body, a mouse can gnaw through even this in a very long time - about an hour of continuous work with its jaws. So what, won’t the elephant be able to wake up?

As for the fact that an elephant can suffocate if a mouse gets into its trunk, those who think so for some reason forget that this giant can actually breathe through its mouth. Yes, and, as the same experiments showed, if a mouse actually got into an elephant’s trunk, in order to drive it out, he didn’t even need to sneeze - it was enough to just exhale more forcefully. And the dumbfounded mouse flew out at about the speed of an arrow from a crossbow.

True, elephants really don’t like rustling. The fact is that usually large predators, such as lions, leopards or tigers, can rustle, sneaking up on elephant calves. Therefore, such sounds always serve as a signal to elephants of danger. It is not surprising that in the experiments the elephants reacted nervously to it at first. But, having discovered the source of the rustling, these giants completely calmed down.

The animal world is so diverse and amazing that we can spend hours contemplating majestic, noble lions and small, funny fur-bearing animals. All animals are so different, but each one takes you with something, makes you smile, makes you want to take care of him, or, conversely, makes you run away without looking back.

People constantly strive to understand the nature of animals, but very often this gives rise to somewhat extravagant opinions that quickly spread throughout the earth, misleading several hundred more people. One such opinion is that elephants are afraid of mice.

Elephant... A giant of the animal world, mysterious, calm and at the same time dangerous. Elephants reach four meters in height and weigh up to seven tons. But rumor stubbornly insists that elephants are terrified of the tiny mouse and avoid it. And new and increasingly extravagant explanations for this supposed fact also constantly appear.

Reason one: the elephant is worried about its legs. It's no secret that mice are agile and ubiquitous creatures. They are quite capable of getting between the toes and gnawing at the heels. Thus, the mouse will cause sharp pain to the elephant, from which it will be very difficult for him to free himself. But science has long proven that a mouse can only tickle an elephant, and then only for a short time (no wonder, they weigh seven tons).

Reason two: the mouse can get caught in the trunk, causing suffocation and death. If you remember with what force an elephant blows streams of water through its trunk, it becomes clear that some mouse will simply fly out of there like a bullet! And don’t forget that an elephant breathes excellently through its mouth, and therefore is not afraid of instant death from a small rodent.

Reason three: the elephant stops in front of the mouse to hear it. Proponents of this explanation believe that elephants and mice communicate using infrasound signals that are elusive to humans. But if you compare the lungs and vocal cords of a mouse and the same elephant, it becomes clear that only the latter can carry on a conversation.

There are many more reasons why elephants should (!) be afraid and cowardly run away from mice. But in fact, elephants are not afraid of them. They are simply cautious and want to see any obstacle in their path. When the experiment was carried out with mice, the elephants actually spent the first 10 seconds backing away a little, carefully examining the living clumps of hair in front of them. But after a couple of minutes, several rodents were accidentally crushed, and the elephants completely forgot about them, walking around the cage.

But elephants still have one fear, which really makes them panic and run away. But this is far from a harmless mouse, but an African honey bee. One such bee can infect an entire swarm with its aggressive attitude, and neither an elephant nor a person can resist hundreds of sharp stings.

Irina Vyacheslavovna Mozzhelina

WHY ARE ELEPHANTS AFRAID OF MICE? AND ARE THEY AFRAID?

Huge animals up to four meters high can terrify most living creatures, but at the same time they panic afraid tiny rodents. Who are we talking about? Of course, oh elephants and mice.

A long time ago, man knew that elephant giants there is a fear of miniature animals, and this fear is supposedly "genetic". This confirms the human opinion about the cowardice of large creatures and the courage of small ones. But is it true that elephants are afraid of mice? And if so, then Why and why do mice scare giants? elephants?

Why are elephants afraid of mice?: arguments

How can a tiny mouse scare you? elephant? They say that once upon a time, when elephants first encountered troops mice, rodents caused the giants a lot of trouble. The mice allegedly began to gnaw at the heels elephants and even arrange in elephant mink limbs. Exactly because of this reason elephants supposedly they learned to sleep standing up.

In addition, the mice happily gnawed at the interdigital joints. elephants, which caused physical discomfort to large animals. Little of: mice managed to climb into their trunks elephants and stopped breathing, which is why elephants even died. So do elephantsfear of rodents developed and turned into a kind of reflex: they say, just seeing a mouse, elephants they immediately take to their heels.

There are more interesting theories that explain why are elephants afraid of mice. Mice climb on elephants, crawl on them and... tickle them. A elephants, poor things, so afraid of tickling that they might die. They also say that mice gnaw out elephant claws, and legs elephants become vulnerable. In general, if you dig deeper, you can find a dozen more reasons why why are elephants afraid of mice. Alas, almost all of them are just myths. Elephants are not at all afraid of mice, and this has been proven by curious scientists.

All this is just fiction!

« Elephants are afraid of mice» : where does this myth come from?

Now it’s difficult to say where the myth came from that elephants are afraid of mice. Perhaps a story about cowards elephants and brave mice was the basis of some fairy tale or legend - Indian or Arabic. This myth is allegorical, because one of the participants in the story is a giant, a sort of Goliath, and the second is a small but extremely nimble animal. In the cartoon "Tom and Jerry" the mouse always turns out to be the winner, although in life such a situation is unlikely. There were also many fairy tales about cowardly lions. Opposition mice and elephants also found quite often in the literature (mostly in fables).

According to some versions, the myth that mice are thunderstorms elephants, arose when zoos and circuses appeared. Their workers noticed that in the cages and near the cages elephants There were always mice. Reaction elephants these miniature creatures, they say, were very reminiscent of fear. But mice may well be attracted to food elephants(bread and root vegetables, and not at all the cowardice of the enemy.

Elephants in the zoo

Are elephants afraid of mice?? Scientists' opinion on this matter

Scientists and trainers from different countries have repeatedly conducted experiments, trying to confirm or refute people’s opinions about fear elephants before mice. There is no data on a single experiment whose results would confirm that elephants They experience a special fear and trepidation of mice. On the contrary, many studies have shown that the myth of elephants and mice - this is truly a myth.

Scientists-zoologists have not done anything: planted mice on trunk, launched a bunch mice in a cage with elephants, hid mice in elephant food, etc.. p. Never elephants didn't show much fear. When the mouse was on its trunk elephant, giant “I didn’t even raise an eyebrow”. Elephants, to whom they launched into the cage mice, reacted very calmly and even stretched their trunks towards the small animals to sniff them. By the way, during such experiments there are many mice were killed by elephants absolutely with impunity.

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, giving rise to a whole chain of associations. Is there anyone in the animal world who would risk competing with this hero of the animal kingdom?

And is this hero capable of being afraid of anyone? It would seem that this is impossible, but popular rumor continues to develop one belief with enviable tenacity.

Elephants suffer from a paradoxical phobia, which is that these huge animals allegedly experience a panicky fear of mice.

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

Are elephants afraid of mice - myth or truth?

Some even claim that mice like to climb into the trunks of elephants, getting almost to the very insides, where they make homes, and which they 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 only place the biblical prophet Jonah, who allegedly sat in the insides of this plankton-eating animal for three days. But regarding heels being chewed by mice, it’s worth saying a few words to finally debunk this ridiculous misconception.

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

However, the mice did not look into the elephant abode in order to intrigue the good-natured giants and gnaw their fragrant heels, arranging cozy holes for themselves 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 don’t need anything more to be happy. And even if some mouse with a penchant for extreme sports 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 highly sensitive trunk, an elephant would begin to tolerate something foreign in it. It is enough to remember the force with which jets of water fly out of an elephant’s trunk 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 be afraid of mice.

In order to confirm this, an interesting experiment was even conducted. 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, since, like any other animal, elephants prefer not to come into contact with anything unfamiliar, even if it is small in size.

This manner of behavior is all the more justified, since elephants living in the wild often suffer from very small but deadly snakes, which can, if not kill, then injure, if not an adult elephant, then their cubs. Seeing a snake in the distance, elephants, as a rule, sharply change the direction of movement so as not to ask for trouble. Lions, which can hunt elephant calves, 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 became accustomed to the company of mice and even accidentally killed several rodents. True, some people expressed the idea that they did this deliberately and out of fear, but this cannot be established for sure. Most likely this happened by accident, but whatever the reasons for the death of the mice participating in the experiment, one thing was clear: elephants do not have any innate hostility towards mice, showing only ordinary 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.

The legend of the fear of mice by elephants dates back more than 2,000 years. Its author was Pliny the Elder, a Roman encyclopedist. He noticed the strange behavior of huge animals when rodents suddenly appeared. And he described this fact in his work “Natural History”. Since then, humanity has believed in the old myth, supporting its right to exist with the plots of fairy tales and cartoons. Is this really so?

Various hypotheses: why elephants are afraid of mice

People have provided various evidence in favor of the panicky fear of small pests among owners of trunks. Allegedly, insidious mice can gnaw through the base of the giant’s legs, in the heel part of which the skin is more delicate and softer than in any other part.

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

But it is unlikely that a mouse will be guided by the motto: “Who tried to eat an elephant?” The nimble toothfish is cautious. The instinct of self-preservation will not allow you to take absurd risks, because in the feeder of the “tenant in a cage” there will be a lot of tasty things to arrange a safe feast. And there is even more food nearby in natural conditions.

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