Are Elphants afraid of Mice?

Many cartoons and movies like “Dumbo” show elephants afraid of mice. Turns out that is myth. It's a long standing myth but a myth none the less.

A Roman naturalist called Pliny the Elder wrote about a poor elephant being driven to madness by a mouse that had crawled up his trunk. This may have been the origin of that myth. And it was retold until people thought it a fact that elephants are afraid of mice.

The Reality

If the mouse somehow managed to crawl up the elephant's trunk – well that mouse would take a good lesson on flying as the elephant would simple blow it out.
So while it is a funny idea, it is not rooted in reality

Getting startled

Elephants - having poor eyesight - can be startled by anything that suddenly moves. So a mouse can surely startle an elephant. But due to the size difference it would not be considered a threat.

What does scare Elephants?

Bees. Turns out elephants are afraid of bees. The sound of angry bees caused elephants to move away fast.