Are Elephants Really Afraid of Mice? An Elephant Expert Weighs In.

If you’ve seen cartoon elephants before, you’ve likely noticed the stereotype that elephants fear mice. Given that they’re the largest land mammal on earth, it does seem unbelievable for elephants to be afraid of something so small. But scientists and experiments may prove otherwise. What’s the truth? Do mice give elephants the heebie jeebies?

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 elephant’s trunks and driving them crazy.

Others hypothesize that elephants are afraid of mice climbing inside their trunks, plugging them 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 waited for 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, and cower in the corner. But they did notice the mouse, seem 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.

20/20 Finds Elephants Aren’t Afraid of Mice

Another show did their own experiment to see if elephants were indeed afraid of mice. On 20/20, the host contacted the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The elephant trainer, Troy Metzler, showed a white mouse to multiple elephants working for the circus. The results? The elephants didn’t seem to notice the mouse at all.

So, Are Elephants Actually Afraid of Mice?

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 amount to draw any conclusions.

Secondly, there were few controls in each experiment. There was not a group of elephants that were familiar with mice and a group that were less familiar with mice. As one little girl pointed out, the MythBusters used a white mouse, which would be rare in an 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 might a real elephant researcher think?

Elephant Researcher Josh Plotnik Describes What Elephants Truly Fear

According to University of Cambridge researcher Josh Plotnik, “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 elephants are programmed to be startled until they know if the animal making the movements is a threat.

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.