Bark Collar For Small Dogs – Learning Drives .If I had just settled in to watch a movie in my living room and a squirrel scooted out from under the drapes and ran across the floor, I would be startled! If that same squirrel scooted across the street in front of me when I was out walking my dog, I probably wouldn’t blink. Same squirrel but a different scenario. Is that why people think elephants are afraid of mice? Are mice common in their environments? Are elephants afraid or just startled? Would elephants be afraid of squirrels too?
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Let’s take a look at where this idea came from and whether elephants are really afraid of mice!
Why Are Elephants Afraid of Mice?
It is not certain where the story of the big elephant being afraid of the tiny mouse originated, but multiple sources say it began with ancient Greeks telling fables of mice climbing inside elephants’ trunks and driving them crazy. Others hypothesize that elephants are afraid that a mouse would climb inside their trunk, plugging it up and stopping them from breathing. These stories have been passed down through generations and are popularized through books, movies, and cartoons. But is there any truth to it?
MythBusters Tackles Whether Elephants Are Afraid of Mice?
On the Discovery Channel’s show MythBusters, the show’s hosts, Adam Savage and Jayme Hyneman, hid a small white mouse under a pile of dung and then waited for the elephants to approach. When the elephants were nearby, they pulled a wire to release the mouse and watched to see if the elephants noticed.
The results? The elephants didn’t stand on their hind legs, trumpet their trunks or cower in the corner. But they did notice the mouse, seemed to startle and take a step away from the mouse. The hosts were shocked by the results; however, does this prove that elephants are afraid of mice? Let’s see what others have found.
Finds Elephants AREN’T Afraid of Mice
Could the MythBusters experiment prove that elephants are afraid of mice?
Another show did its own experiment to see if elephants were indeed afraid of mice. On 20/20, the host contacted Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The elephant trainer, Troy Metzler, let the host show one of the elephants a little white mouse. He then took the white mouse around and showed it to a few of the other elephants. The results? The elephants didn’t seem to notice the mouse at all.
So, Are Elephants REALLY Afraid of Mice?
Elephants and mice. Friend or foe?
Both of these examples cannot be referred to as research. The sample size of each experiment was 2-4 mice at most, which is not a representative sample size of elephants. Secondly, there were few controls in each experiment. There was not a group of elephants that were familiar with mice and a group that was less familiar with mice.
And as one little girl pointed out, the MythBusters used a white mouse which would be rare in elephant habitat, so what if the experiment was done with a variety of colored mice? In the 20/20 experiment, the mouse was held and shown to elephants; it was not scampering across the ground. So what does a real elephant researcher think?
Elephant Researcher Josh Plotnick Describes What Elephants Fear in the Wild
According to University of Cambridge researcher Josh Plotnick, “In the wild, anything that suddenly runs or slithers by an elephant can spook it.” He goes on to explain that it is not so much that it is a mouse. It can be any animal that makes a sudden move. Elephants have a keen sense of smell but poor eyesight, so it is likely that the elephants are programmed to be startled until they know if the animal making the movements is a threat.
Final Verdict on Elephants Being Afraid of Mice
So are elephants really afraid of mice?
Maybe. It seems elephants can be “startled” by mice, but there clearly needs to be more research done before we pass on our cartoon fables to the next generation.
Who knew that a mountain lion would be brave enough to take on a fully-grown brown bear? In this short video, a mountain lion takes on the larger carnivore, swatting at it with its paws.
Even though the bear is much larger and more formidable, the mountain lion isn’t without any skills for both offense and defense. The bear approaches the female mountain lions, moving in its characteristic lumbering strides. The mountain lion stands her ground, hitting the bear’s head and face with her sharp claws.
“Bears and mountain lions are top predators in the North American wilderness,” the narrator says.” They are feared, especially by hikers.
Most experienced hikers know to keep clear of wild animal encounters. Not only can they be unpredictable, but getting in between two animals fighting can be very, very dangerous. At one time, humans hunted mountain lions to keep them from attacking livestock.
Now, this is illegal, and the mountain lion population is slowly starting to come back from the risk of extinction.
Mountain lions do not generally go after brown bears. The reverse is also true. Both are formidable predators but prefer to hunt smaller and easier prey. The exception to this is when brown bears try to get vulnerable mountain lion cubs. In this case, the mother mountain lion is not about to let that happen.
Don’t Mess With Mama Mountain Lion
Mama bears get a reputation as fiercely protective of their young, which is very deserved. Many bear attacks involve mother bears that feel their cubs are threatened.
This time, it is actually the female mountain lion that is acting to protect her cubs.
“In this video, the cougar is defending her cub and is able to sink her fangs deep into the adult brown bear,” says the narrator. The video cuts to footage of the cub, who looks on as his mama protects him from the would-be predator. The mountain lion bites the bear’s neck, a weak point that certainly makes the bear think twice before engaging with her again.
This is a short clip, so we don’t get to see what happens as the bear moves away. We hope that the mama mountain lion and her cub were able to make it away. They are certainly more agile and faster than a large brown bear, especially one that has just suffered an injury. Mountain lions can run up to 50 miles per hour, although the mother and her cub would have moved slower.
The Final Verdict!
So the conclusion is – yes and no.
Yes, elephants are afraid of mice. And no, it’s not always when they get afraid of them. Based on what Josh Plotnick said, we can only come to one verdict: elephants don’t specifically fear mice. However, there’s still a need for more researchers to study this topic in-depth and discover the best possible conclusion.
The next time someone asks you – Are elephants really afraid of mice, don’t just pass on the same cartoon and imaginary fables that were being fed to you. Share the right information, the truth you learned today.
You may even share this blog with them. Tell them to read this blog and discover the right answer to their questions.
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