Afraid of Mice? Not Quite…

Photo credit: keithlawson

More animal research tidbits. You know that old story that elephants are afraid of mice? In the first century A.D., Pliny the Elder claimed that elephants hate mice “above all other creatures.”  Later scientists speculated that mice might run up elephant’s trunk.

This does not happen. And elephants are not particularly afraid of mice, although they have poor eyesight (and also eyes a long way around from the ground) and can sometimes get started by anything that scuttles unexpectedly around their feet.

But there is a tiny animal that elephants are actually afraid of.

Bees.

Despite elephant’s thick skin, bee stings can still hurt. If bees are flying around, an elephant herd may form up into a protective circle with the calves inside to keep them safe from the fuzzy little flying menaces.