Are elephants really afraid of mice? I’ve heard reference to this many times. Most recently in the Simpsons at Apu’s wedding.
Elephants have rather poor eyesight. I think it’s unlikely an elephant could even *see * a mouse under normal conditions.
No, it’s a myth.
See here also:
I don’t think elephants are afraid of anything that doesn’t appear to be a threat to their young.
OK, I’ve been aware of this meme for a long time, without putting much credit to it.
So now I’m curious about it’s origin, Kipling? Some opera? Bugs Bunny? Anybody know?
It’s much much older than that. It goes back at least to Pliny the Elder’s Natural History of c. 77 AD.
From here
Isidore of Seville mentions that they are afraid of mice in his account in the 6th Century AD. The fact that elephants hate mice is also mentioned in one of the first English bestiaries, Topsell’s Historie of Four-footed Beasts (1607).