Are elephants afraid of mice?
The notion that these large animals are afraid of a tiny rodent has always played itself out in fictional tales as being quite comical. In ancient times, Pliny the elder reported that elephants would not even eat their straw should a mouse have run out from under it. Recent research has shown that they are, in fact, wary of mice and will back away when confronted with one, but not to the hysterical degree portrayed in many stories. The simple fact is that elephants will back away from something strange, and so this may not be an actual fear of the mouse itself but just of a new experience.
I’ve heard that one since I was a little kid. So to check it out, we went looking for some elephants. We found them at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, where the head clown let me ask the audience. The resounding answer from the audience: “Mice. Mice. Mice.” Many people, however, learned about elephants fearing mice from cartoons like “Dumbo.” But why would a big animal fear such a small one? Well, it seems logical to us or at least plausible because if you think about it, as adults we are afraid of little bugs. And what would one of these elephants do if we showed it a mouse? Not much. Troy Metzler, the circus’ elephant trainer, let me take one white mouse and show it to an elephant that only looked bored by it all. Metzler says he’s seen mice around the elephants. They like the hay, but he’s never tested the myth up close.
