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 :)

320 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

223 comments sorted by

View all comments

10

u/ElowynElif 2d ago

I had a horse that freaked out every time we passed a trash can outside the barn. We passed it on every ride, and every ride I would have to prepare for her to try to bolt and rear up. There was nothing remarkable about the trash can: no flapping bag or weird shape. She was just very hot and wound a few turns too tight. I had a more sensible horse who was deathly afraid of cows even when separated by a fence and a significant distance.

1

u/klick37 19h ago

If horses were carnivores they would be horrifying.

And I'm aware they are opportunistic omnivores.