Reading the recent thread about mouse-flavored cat food reminded me of a question I’ve been wondering for a while. Ask any kid what mice eat, and they will naturally say cheese, even though mice have been around a lot longer than actual cheese has, and I’m pretty sure mice eat whatever they can get. Several other animals have similar “favorites” but I wonder how much of this is due to cartoons/folklore and how much is actually true.
For starters:[ul]
[li]monkeys eat bananas (I’ve seen a monkey eat a banana, but do they in the wild?)[/li][li]elephants eat peanuts/peanut butter (seems unlikely, are there even peanuts in their natural habitat?)[/li][li]mice eat cheese[/li][li]cats eat mice[/li][li]dogs eat cats or at least hate them (the ones I’ve seen tend to get along ok)[/li][li]birds eat worms[/li][li]rabbits eat carrots[/li][li]squirrels eat acorns[/li][li]horses eat apples and sugar cubes[/li][li]bears like honey (not just Pooh. They make the honey bottles bear shaped, no?)[/ul][/li]
Are any of these based in fact? If not, where did they come from?