Paul Streck, age 10, of Enid, Oklahoma, for his question:
How can a little mouse scare a big elephant?
It's hard to imagine how a little mouse could harm a big elephant. With just half a puff, Jumbo could blow the bitsy critter clear across a pasture. Besides, a big elephant foot could mash him flat as a pan¬cake, merely by accident. The real mystery in all this is who started the unlikely story that a mouse can scare an elephant.
We don't know who started this wild rumor. But it must have been somebody who didn't know much about mice and not a thing about elephants. We all know that a mouse is known for his timid character, scared of the sound of a footstep and most likely scared of the sight of his own shadow. Naturally Mr. Timid as a Mouse is not about to step right up to a four ton elephant and say, Boo! You can bet your boots he will not.
Besides, even if he did , Jumbo would pay no attention at all. An elephant does not have many enemies in this world and he is not used to being scared. Chances are, he would hardly notice a little mouse ¬and most certainly he would not be scared of one. This, of course, is a downright contradiction of the old rumor that elephants are afraid of mice. It doesn't make sense that they should be. But just in case there is some truth in the old rumor, some clear thinking researchers looked into the matter.
Mice, as we know, like to live around barns where they can scuttle about and hide themselves in the hay. It so happens that a captive elephant has a sort of barn, where they feed him a great trough of hay. The researchers thought this would be a likely place to find a mouse and an elephant close enough to observe.
They were right. There was at least one mouse in the elephant's hay right there while Jumbo was munching his lunch. The researchers waited around to see who scared whom. But nothing happened, nothing at all. The mouse scampered around and the elephant went on munching, paying no attention at all. Several more elephants and mice were observed together, just to prove the experiment. And not one elephant was scared by a mouse.
Obviously that old rumor is not true at all. Goodness knows why people never forget to tell us this silly story especially when there are so many fascinating true things to learn about elephants. For instance, not even a baby elephant gets scared very often of mice or anything else. This is because he knows that his big mother, several big auntie's and his giant papa are nearby to protect him.
The nicest thing about modern times is this. For the first time we have a young generation that is interested, really interested in the world of nature. Young persons nowadays want to know the truth about nature's creatures. For one thing, the truth is more interesting than wild rumors. So let's trace these silly old rumors down when we can and put an end to them forever.