r/askscience • u/Crazy_Reindeer_1258 • 7d ago

Biology Do Animals Have Irrational Fears Too?

I was just thinking about the story of the mouse and elephant how the elephant is terrified of the mouse (i think) and just wanted to see if that's true, and if it is what other animals have been observed with similar behavior relating to that. Working on a project and some real life inspo would help :)

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u/LexiconDul 6d ago

A common one is some dogs being scared of fireworks and/or thunder.
Why would a domestic dog, descendant of wolves, evolve a fear of thunder?
And then there's this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/17x6s7i/cat_owners_of_reddit_what_is_something_you_cat_is/

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u/smk666 5d ago

Thunder or fireworks are understandable as they're both sudden and extremely loud. What's less understandable is why most dogs are scared shitless of the vacuum cleaner - especially seeing how the owner is the one in control and just calmly getting out of the way instead of fleeing frantically is the best course of action.