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Male Mice are Afraid of Bananas, Here is Why

Curated By: Buzz Staff

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Last Updated: June 29, 2022, 13:06 IST

Bananas can scare off mice.

Bananas can scare off mice.

The study focuses on the chemical signals sent out by pregnant or nursing mice to protect their young.

If you have a rodent menace at your home that has left you at your wit’s end, there may be a new remedy you can try out. And its efficiency has just been proven by scientists at the McGill University in Canada. The answer is bananas. Yes, bananas can help in keeping male mice at bay.

The secret is in a particular chemical that is stressful for mice and is also found in bananas. The study focuses on the chemical signals sent out by pregnant or nursing mice to protect their young. These chemicals cause stress hormones to rise and instruct other mice to stay away. Several chemicals have been found, but one in particular, n-pentyl acetate, which is secreted in the urine of mice that are pregnant or lactating, is extremely stressful for males. It’s also the chemical that gives bananas their distinct aroma.

The study was published in the Science Advances journal. Co-author of the study, Saran Rosen said, “Female mice are most likely indicating to male mice who may be considering harming their offspring that they will actively defend them. The possibility of an impending fight is the source of the anxiety.”

The findings, according to the authors, show how mice communicate successfully with one another, with the majority of their “talking” taking place through smell rather than squeaks.

Co-author Lucas Lima said that after visiting the supermarket for some banana oil, they were able to confirm that its odour stressed male mice as much as the pregnant or lactating female mice.

The discovery is a watershed moment in the study of mammalian social signalling. “In rats, there are many cases of male-to-female olfactory signalling, but considerably fewer examples of female-to-male signalling, especially outside of the arena of sexual behaviour,” explains Jeffrey Mogil, Professor in the Department of Psychology at McGill University.

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first published:June 29, 2022, 13:06 IST
last updated:June 29, 2022, 13:06 IST