Elephants And Bees

The urban legend that elephants are afraid of mice has been perpetuated in cartoons and animated films such as Disney’s “Dumbo” for decades. There is even a widely circulated story on the Internet about an episode from the popular TV series “Mythbusters,” wherein the sometimes not-so-scientific hosts find it plausible that elephants might really be afraid of mice. It’s not clear where the idea came from, but many people have theorized that elephants fear the tiny creatures could crawl inside their trunks. In truth, elephants in captivity have long been exposed to mice which are frequently found in and around the elephants’ food. And many caretakers have observed mice crawling on the trunks and faces of elephants, noting that the massive animals take absolutely no notice of the mice, or display signs of fear or anxiety in their presence. -1

From the wiser scientific community comes proof that there is a much smaller creature that elephants do in fact fear — bees! Researchers at Disney’s…