Fredericton, N.B., Canada, for her question:

WHY ARE ELEPHANTS AFRAID OF MICE?

The elephant is such a whopping big animal that he tends to take your breath away. It is somewhat hard to believe that he is real. In this frame of mind, one is ready to believe almost anything about him. When you look at his huge head, it seems reasonable to believe that he has the sort of memory that never forgets. However, let's face it, we find it a bit harder to believe that Mr. Big is scared of mice.

For generations the average citizen has helped to spread various rumors about the elephant. As usual, some of the rumors are quite true and others are downright false. For example, it is true that the big beastie is an excellent swimmer. It also is true that he spends hours of his life purring. However, it is not true that he never forgets. And certainly he is not scared of a tiny mouse.

Goodness knows how this mousy story arose. Perhaps a somewhat timid person was overwhelmed and panic striken by the sheer size of the enormous animal. After all, he may stand nine feet tall and weigh four tons. And his tusks may be eight feet long. A timid person might feel a lot safer if he got the notion that Big Jumbo is scared of mice. Maybe the rumor was handed on and on because it makes all of us feel somewhat safer. After all, if the gigantic animal is afraid of a bitsy mouse, surely he is no menace to mankind.

But the rumor is downright false. In the first place, an elephant has rather poor eyesight. And his eyes are located about six feet above the ground where mice usually scuttle. Zoo keepers report that mice often scamper through the hay in his food bin  and Big Jumbo pays no attention to them.

Sometimes we see a film of a savage elephant on the rampage. Certainly this angry giant is dangerous to any person in his path. But the elephants we .are likely to see are tame animals in zoos and circuses. These are gentle giants, very devoted to their keepers and fond of other human friends.

The average elephant is an intelligent animal. Some folks believe that he remembers an injury and carries a grudge for the rest of his life. True, he may never forget a kindly keeper, but in other matters his memory is no better than yours.

It is hard to believe that .the bulky elephant is a strong, long distance swimmer  but he is. However, it seems too much to believe that he purrs  but he does. When dining among the trees, the elephants in a wild herd make purring noises through their trunks. When he is approached by a predator, such as a human hunter, he stops purring  and his relatives get the silent signal from more than a mile away.