Why are elephants afraid of mice?

I find it utterly ridiculous that they dance around or stand on chairs when they see a mouse given their size and all.Why are elephants afraid of mice?
Elephants are deathly allergic to mice. They tend to get stuck in the elephant's trunk and within minutes, they will cause suffocation.





GizWhy are elephants afraid of mice?
You've been watching too many cartoons.


Elephants are not necessarily afraid of mice. The thing is, that being as intelligent as they are, they ';know'; what's in their environment around them. For example: In the zoo, when you walk the Elephant out to his yard in the morning, you MUST have everything along the pathway ';EXACTLY'; as it was the day before, and the day before that, or the animal will freak out. A good friend of mine was almost accidentally killed by the elephant he was walking out to its yard because the wheelbarrow had been moved a few feet away from where it usually was.


My point is, that Elephants like things around them that they ';understand';, and they need to feel that they are sure-footed at all times. So, if a small animal, like a mouse, appears all of a sudden, and is running around their feet, the Elephant will get upset. They are not ';afraid'; of the mouse, they just don't like something they are not familiar with running around their feet.


Do you know why Elephants are kept within their enclosures at the zoo with nothing more than a shallow moat between them and you? Because the moat would make them lose their sure-footedness, and this they will NOT risk.
Most of the time they are not. However, this 'Old wives tale' is not necessarily false.





One reason is that rats and mice will often bite the elephants foot in an enclosure.





Another is that elephants don't like sudden movements, and it is clear how fast rats are.
Um, actually, elephants are only scared of mice on cartoons. I think one time they had an elephant at a zoo and they had some mice in the elephant's exhibit, but the elephant didn't do anything.
OMG I know! That is so ridiculous. I laugh until it hurts everytime I see that. Maybe meece have brainwashed them with their highly intellectual powers of persuasion into believing they are abominable.
You know, I always loved elephants, elephants are so lovely and sensitive, truly gentle giants. I'll bet they are just trying to get out of the way so they don't stomp on the poor little mousy.
The strong point about mice is their agility! (and, small size!) Elephants can't match that!
I think they've watched too much TV.
what if a mouse was to crawl up an elephants trunk?