--- title: Myth check: are elephants scared of mice? — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Myth check: are elephants scared of mice?», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: In cartoons, a huge elephant screams and leaps onto a stool at the sight of a tiny mouse; in Dumbo, a whole row of elephant ladi --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Myth check: are elephants scared of mi… # Myth check: are elephants scared of mice? Lesson 149 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 17 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/0/) — In cartoons, a huge elephant screams and leaps onto a stool at the sight of a tiny mouse; in Dumbo, a whole row of elephant ladies panics at Timothy the mouse. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/2/) — Elephants see poorly and can be startled by anything small that darts suddenly near their feet: a mouse, a bird or a plastic bag blowing past. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/3/) — Mice do not crawl up elephant trunks either: the trunk is a mighty muscular nose that blows dust and water over the elephant's back and could snort out any intruder. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/4/) — What elephants really fear is the buzzing of angry bees, which can sting the soft skin inside the trunk and round the eyes. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/5/) — In Kenya, farmers hang beehives along fences, and the elephants keep away from their fields. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/6/) — There is no good evidence that elephants fear mice in particular; a TV test once showed an elephant stepping back from a mouse, but one test is not proof. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/7/) — Elephants see poorly and are startled by sudden small movements near their feet, whether a mouse, a bird or a plastic bag; horses shy at bags too. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/8/) — Mice do not crawl up elephant trunks; the trunk's strong muscles could blow anything out with a huge snort. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/9/) — Elephants really avoid bees: at the buzz of an angry swarm they shake their heads, walk away and warn each other with a special rumble. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/10/) — Bees can sting the soft skin inside the trunk and round the eyes, and in Kenya beehive fences keep elephants out of fields while giving honey. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/11/) — Elephants feel deep rumbles from far-off elephants through their feet and trunks, and make many sounds too low for people to hear. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/12/) — Elephants have excellent memories: old female leaders remember distant water in droughts and recognise friends after many years. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/13/) — Elephants investigate new things carefully with their trunks and can smell water several kilometres away. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/14/) — An elephant spreads its ears to look bigger and charges to scare a threat, but many charges are bluffs that stop before contact; flapping ears also cools it. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/15/) — Some farmers smear fences with chilli and grease or burn chilli bricks, because chilli stings elephants' sensitive trunks. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/16/) — Baby elephants stay close to mothers and aunts, who circle them when lions or hyenas come; babies suck their trunks for comfort. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/17/) — Ants living inside the thorns of some acacia trees swarm and bite the soft inside of an elephant's trunk, so elephants leave those trees alone. - ← previous: [Spider-Man: real spider senses, climbing and bites](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/148-spider-man-real-spider-senses-climbing-and-bites/) - next →: [Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)