Is the elephant afraid? Why are elephants afraid of mice and are they afraid? Various hypotheses: why elephants are afraid of mice

It has been known for a very long time that elephants are afraid of mice. Some people consider this information to be fiction, while others believe in its truthfulness. Is an animal that big really afraid of a small rodent? Or is this an interesting move by animators and fairy tale writers? Why are elephants afraid of mice? How can an active rodent harm the largest mammal on our planet?

Fact or fiction?

Before looking for the origins of fear, you need to understand whether fear itself exists. Why do you dream about green grass? Is she dreaming about something? Is it a prophetic dream? It's the same with elephants.

The Discovery Channel broadcasts the program “MythBusters.” In one of the episodes, the guys went to Africa to check the legend about the fear of the elephant. The small rodent was hidden in elephant dung. When the giant approached, the pellets of manure were lifted. And the massive animal, noticing the mouse, moved to the side, leaving an “obstacle” on the side. When the dung was lifted without the small animal, the giant continued to walk straight.

That is, the giant’s fear of the rodent is real. Of course, the elephant did not rush to run away, throwing its ears over its back. But he showed some caution. I avoided the obstacle that arose. What causes such caution, which people often confuse with the concept of “fear”?

Why is the elephant afraid of the tailed rodent?

1) A small mouse can accidentally get into the interdigital joints on an elephant's feet. Considering the size of the animals, the rodent will be quite comfortable there. The mouse can even feed on particles of the giant’s skin. But the latter will not be able to get the interfering rodent on his own.

2) Elephant skin, although thick, is very delicate and sensitive. Mice easily gnaw through the skin on the legs of other animals and introduce infection there. It hurts for the giant to walk after such an acquaintance. Therefore, it is easier to avoid possible contact with a sharp-toothed animal than to risk your health.

3) Elephants are conservatives. They are afraid of any noise and rustling from sources unknown to them. And mice make enough noise while remaining invisible.

4) The elephant's ear has a branched circulatory system . The huge fan helps the animal regulate its body temperature in tropical conditions. Even a young mouse can easily gnaw through any artery in the ear, which is dangerous for a giant.

It is believed that the rodent is able to climb into the giant’s trunk, causing the latter to suffocate. But this is unlikely. An elephant will easily exhale any clutter that gets into its trunk. In addition, giants can breathe through their mouths.

There is also an opinion that due to fear of rodents, elephants sleep standing up. But scientists have seen many giants who lay down to sleep on the ground. The standing posture during sleep is not due to fear of mice. This is how huge animals protect themselves from overheating and reduce the load on the heart.

It was also noticed that only those representatives of the animal world are afraid of mice to whom rodents have already caused trouble. Even if not to a certain giant personally. But to someone from the herd, for example. After all, individuals from the same herd transmit information to each other. There is no genetic fear of rodents. Elephants will not run when they see a mouse. They will be careful and give the small animal a wide berth. But they will not flee.

Imagine a zoo. It will not be possible to completely protect it from mice. The impudent little animals will walk in herds around the territory and visit the cages they please. If the largest and heaviest animals were terrified of small mice, they would destroy the zoo, running away from the pests.

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 they are given interesting details- 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 start to get nervous - backing away, trumpeting, trying to stand on 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 the 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. To a wide variety of animals (i.e. males, females and young of both African and asian elephant) mice were released into the cages, and a lot of them. 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 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. Is there 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 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.

Back in 77 AD, the ancient Roman writer Pliny the Elder spread a rumor that the elephant hated mice more than other living creatures. For thousands of years people have believed this statement. But still, many began to guess that this statement was not supported by scientific evidence. And yet, where is the truth?

Are elephants afraid of mice: truth and myths

The legend of elephants' fear of mice is immortalized in cartoons, films, and literature. It is unknown where this idea originally came from, but many people believe in it.

There is a theory that elephants are afraid of mice because these tiny creatures chew on their limbs or can even climb on top of powerful elephants and run over them. Another theory is that a mouse can get into the trunk. In fact, there is no confirmed evidence that any of these theories are true.

The theory that a mouse can get into the trunk is one of the stupidest. After all, an elephant can easily throw it back with a powerful stream of air . The same can be said about rodents climbing on top of an elephant or even living in folds of skin.

But as numerous experiments have shown, elephants are really afraid of mice and begin to panic. But only if they see the rodent very close, in front of their eyes. What explains this? It's simple - elephants have relatively poor eyesight and get scared when something small runs in front of them. But such a reaction is not always observed. Often, a large animal does not even notice the rodent and remains calm.

IN wildlife anything that suddenly moves in front of an elephant can frighten it. And it can be not only mice, but also any other not too large living creatures - dogs, cats, snakes, lizards, etc.

They become nervous when there are small and fast animals around them, so panic is a normal reaction. Due to panic and fear, the elephant may run away.

Therefore, the answer to the question “are elephants afraid of mice” can be safely answered “no”, since they are afraid of any small creatures that move quickly. And this list includes not only mice, but also many different animals. small size. The elephant's reaction can be called surprise mixed with fear; it is frightened by fast and chaotic movements. But the same can be said about other animals.

Who are elephants really afraid of?

Researchers have discovered that these large mammals are actually afraid of ants. There are a lot of them in the African savanna, especially on trees. Ants fend off huge herbivores, protecting trees and having a huge impact on the ecosystems in which they live. An elephant’s trunk is its “Achilles heel”, which it protects from ants.

Elephants can eat a lot and if left unchecked, all tree land will turn into open grassland within a few years. Ants help protect the forest from death. A huge problem in East Africa are large mammals that damage crops, which is one of the reasons for persecution by people.

Are elephants afraid of mice? No, they are not afraid and they do not always react to their appearance. Therefore, this is more a myth than truth.

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.