Elephants are the earth's largest land animal.
They easily scare most creatures who come across their path because they're big, strong,
and very protective of one another.
But we’re to believe that when they encounter a helpless little mouse, they're shaken with
fear, panic fills the whole herd, and they run far and fast deep into the forest?
All because of a tiny little mouse?
Let’s examine whether this long-held belief is true or misconstrued fact.
No one seems to know where this legendry phobia that an elephant has toward mice originated
from exactly.
Many researchers trace a possible source to ancient Greek time folklore around 77 AD,
which claims that a mouse somehow went up the nostrils of an elephant's trunk and made
it go berserk.
However, this tale lacks realism.
Just because a mouse would fit into the nostril hole doesn't mean it actually would happen.
Or that it explains the possible long-term generational fear of mice.
Not to mention that an elephant's nostril is very sensitive, and its sense of smell
is four times that of a bloodhound.
An elephant can smell water several miles away, primarily because millions of receptors
cells are in its upper nasal cavity.
In the 1600 hundreds, an Irish physician named Allen Moulin came up with a further investigation
that concluded that an elephant was fearful of a mouse because it would suffocate if it
climbed up its nostril.
The reasoning behind this claim is that an elephant cannot breathe through its mouth
and would suffocate if a mouse blocked the only air passage to the lung.
Today's modern science debunked the physician theory, and we know for a fact that an elephant
can breathe through its mouth just like we do.
So, what would happen if a mouse was brave enough to climb up an elephant's trunk?
The answer is simple!
It would simply blow the little mouse out with a quick puff of air.
But back to the main question, is an elephant scared of a mouse?
Not exactly.
You see, elephants, like many mammals, get startled when a fast-moving animal shoots
by them unexpectedly.
According to Josh Plotnik, a researcher of elephant behavior and intelligence at the
University of Cambridge in England said "In the wild, anything that suddenly runs or slithers
by an elephant can spook it.
It doesn't have to be a mouse—dogs, cats, snakes, or any animal that makes a sudden
movement by an elephant's feet can startle it."
In addition, elephants are known to have poor eyesight, which might be another possibility
that makes them surprised when a tiny mouse shoots by them, not knowing what went by their
feet.
Do you get spooked by small animals or bugs?
Let us know in the comment section below.
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