In fairy tales and myths of many peoples there is a legend about a coward giant and a small or even little creature conquering the giant. Let us recall at least the giant Goliath, who was killed with a stone from a sling by young David. 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? What is it - myth or truth?

People treat with great reverence the opinions of reputable scientists. Aristotle wrote that the 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 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 take flight at the sight of only one mouse that appeared in front of them. Could this be so, and more importantly, why?

The ancient Roman scientist put forward several versions explaining why elephants 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 through the heels of elephants at night and even arrange minks there for themselves in order to bring out cubs in the warmth of a giant body! Therefore, elephants prefer to sleep standing up - so as not to tempt fate. In addition, Pliny assured that mice tend to get into the trunk of giants, which can cause them to suffocate. Thus, even these smart animals have an irresistible fear of these babies on a reflex level.

The opinion of the eminent scientist was considered indisputable, people were only looking for additional explanations for why elephants are afraid of mice. But in Europe, circuses and zoos appeared, in which they began to keep elephants. Then the caretakers of the animals noticed that mice always start up near the cages and enclosures with giants. This is not surprising: elephants do not have the sharpest eyesight, often leave pieces of food (bran, fruits and root crops), and what is a baby for such a giant, for a small animal - food for a week. However, people have seen that elephants react calmly to tiny cage neighbors. 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 mighty animal began to chew it calmly.

It was then that people seriously thought: are elephants afraid of mice? They started doing research. They let rodents along the path of the herd of giants. If the short-sighted giants saw tiny animals, they carefully stepped over them or bypassed 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 out to her with his trunk to sniff the unfamiliar animal, and then lost all interest in him. Even if you let a rat walk along the mighty back of a giant, he will not even lead with his ear. And if suddenly some mouse decides to commit suicide and for this purpose she climbs into an elephant's trunk, the giant has only to sneeze, as a tiny animal will fly out a couple of meters.

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 well-developed hearing and, having heard the squeak of a mouse, they really listen with caution. But then calmness returns to them, and they continue to go about their business. What's the matter? Scientists have only recently discovered the riddle. Elephants - at least African ones - are afraid of the honey bee that lives on this continent. Bees live in huge colonies of several thousand insects. The buzzing of one bee means that there are others nearby. And oh, how I don’t want to mess with a wild swarm of angry bees. Hence the conclusion of scientists: when they hear a mouse squeak, cautious giants listen intently - aren't they bees?

The legend of elephants being afraid of mice is over 2,000 years old. Its author was Pliny the Elder, a Roman encyclopedist. He noticed the strange behavior of huge animals with the sudden appearance of rodents. And he described this fact in the work "Natural History". Since then, humanity has believed in an old myth, supporting its right to exist with the plots of fairy tales and cartoons. And is it really so?

Different hypotheses: why elephants are afraid of mice

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

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

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

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 it is enough for a giant 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 his mouth if necessary.

Elephants are the largest land animals on Earth. Since ancient times, people have shown special interest to these creatures, which gave rise to many myths and stories about them.

Almost every person has heard the statement that these giants, capable of scaring many living beings, are horrified at the sight of small mice. But is it true? And if the statement is true, how can rodents scare elephants so much?

This myth has been around the world for a very long time, so now it is impossible to determine where it came from. It says that elephants are terrified of mice and rats, and on genetic level. There is a version that this myth about the cowardice of elephants and the courage of mice is based on some very ancient fairy tale or legend.

Few people realize that the myth of elephants and mice has an allegorical meaning. This story is very similar to the biblical story of David and Goliath. In this legend, a small but very frisky hero, not afraid of a giant opponent, wins. There are also many fairy tales, fables and even animated films that a small nimble mouse can outwit and defeat a large opponent.

Perhaps the myth that elephants are afraid of mice originated with the advent of zoos and circuses. Allegedly, the workers began to notice that mice often began to start up in the cages of elephants and near them. According to their stories, the reaction of the giants to these small animals was very much like fear. However, it is much more logical to assume that mice were attracted to the food of elephants, and miniature creatures were not going to scare them at all.

If you think carefully, how can a tiny mouse scare a huge calm elephant? Rumor has it that a very long time ago, when elephants first crossed paths with packs of mice, rodents brought a lot of trouble to the giants. Say, mice began to gnaw on the heels of elephants, and some even arranged their minks at the feet of poor animals.

There is an opinion that this is why elephants still sleep standing up. Is it really true that the elephant is afraid of mice? After all, history is known all over the world, and it is full of other details. For example, such that the mice not only gnawed the fingers and claws of giants with pleasure, bringing them terrible pain, but could even climb into their trunks.

They say that in this way, the mouse blocked the breath, from which the elephant could even die. Thanks to this myth, it is believed that this is how elephants developed a fear of rats and mice, and developed a reflex due to which they allegedly start running at the sight of a rodent.

So, now let's look at the opinions of scientists regarding this issue. Many naturalists and trainers have tried to prove or disprove this myth. Is this true, and why are elephants afraid of mice?

As soon as zoologists did not test elephants: they let a lot of mice into their cage, hid rodents under food, and even put mice on their trunks. Moreover, the giants have never demonstrated panic fear.

Moreover, when a bunch of mice were launched towards them, the elephants became interested in them, pulled their trunks down to sniff interesting creatures. There were those who really stepped back, but most likely they were not afraid, but simply naturally reacted to something unfamiliar.

They just never met rodents in their lives. Evidence for this assumption is that elephants reacted similarly to both rabbits and small dogs.

The interesting thing is that in fact today there is not a single confirmation that elephants experience panic fear in front of small animals. On the contrary, the conducted experiments prove that this is just a fiction.

In fact, these giant animals are not at all cowardly, they are just very cautious and conservative. Hearing some rustle, the elephant will definitely be alert, but as soon as he is convinced that this is not a predator, he will calmly continue to do his own thing.

Irina Vyacheslavovna Mozzhelina

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

Huge animals up to four meters high can terrify most living beings, but at the same time they panic afraid tiny rodents. About whom in question? Of course oh elephants and mice.

For a long time, man has known 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 yes, then Why and how do mice scare huge elephants?

Why are elephants afraid of mice?: arguments

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

In addition, the mice gnawed at the interdigital joints with pleasure. elephants which caused physical discomfort to large animals. Little of: mice managed to climb into the trunks elephants and blocked the breath, why elephants even died. So y elephantsdeveloped a fear of rodents and turned into a kind of reflex: they say, just seeing the mouse, elephants they immediately take off running.

There are other interesting theories that explain why are elephants afraid of mice. Mice get on elephants, crawl over them and ... tickle. A elephants, poor things, so ticklish that might die. They also say that mice gnaw at 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 it has been proven by curious scientists.

All this is just fiction!

« Elephants are afraid of mice» : Where do legs grow from this myth?

Now it is difficult to say where the myth came from, that elephants are afraid of mice. Perhaps the story of the cowardly 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 kind of Goliath, and the second is a small, but extremely nimble animal. in a cartoon "Tom and Jerry" the mouse always turns out to be the winner, although in real life this alignment 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 a thunderstorm elephants, arose when zoos and circuses appeared. Their workers drew attention to the fact that in the cages and near the cages elephants there were always mice. Reaction elephants on these miniature creatures, they say, it was very reminiscent of fear. But mice may well attract food elephants(bread and root crops, and not at all the cowardice of the enemy.

Elephants in the zoo

Are elephants afraid of mice?? The opinion of scientists on this matter

Scientists and trainers from different countries experiments have been conducted more than once, trying to confirm or refute people's opinion about fear elephants before mice. There is no data on any experiment, the results of which would confirm that elephants experience a special fear and awe before mice. On the contrary, many studies have shown that the myth of elephants and mice is really a myth.

What zoologists have done: planted mice on trunk, launched a bunch mice in a cage with elephants, hid mice into elephant food, etc.. n. Never elephants showed little fear. When the mouse was on the trunk elephant, giant "and didn't raise an eyebrow". elephants, to which they launched into the cage mice, reacted very calmly and even pulled their trunks to small animals to sniff them. By the way, during such experiments there are many mice were crushed by elephants absolutely with impunity.

Are you afraid of mice? Most likely, many of you are very afraid of mice. In old cartoons, we can often come across a scene in which the hostess in the kitchen, seeing a mouse, immediately jumps onto a chair. As funny as it may seem, in fact, many of us would have done just that. 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 the latest data, this is just a myth. The statement 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 a few various versions where did it come from.

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

There are some other misconceptions. For example, many people think that an elephant is afraid of mice because they can get into his trunk and cut off his breath. In fact, it is enough for an elephant to sneeze several times for the mouse to fly out of its trunk.

How do elephants feel about mice?

There is entertainment in the USA television show— Destroyers of legends (Mythbusters). In one of the episodes, the presenters went to Africa to check urban legend. They hid the mouse in the path of the elephant in the dunghill. When the elephant passed by, the dung was lifted up and the mouse ran out of there. The elephant bypassed 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 studied the reaction of the elephant believe that the elephant was not afraid of the mouse, but it was just a surprise for 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 can often be seen near 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.