Male Mice Hates Bananas

A recent study has discovered that Male Mice are afraid of bananas. Researchers at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, uncovered the remarkable finding. Scientists discovered this while they were investigating a surge in stress hormones in Male Mice living near pregnant or nursing females. The presence of a chemical called n-pentyl acetate in the urine of the females appears to have caused the hormonal alterations in these males. According to experts, this chemical also gives bananas their characteristic odour. On May 20, the study’s findings were published in the journal ‘Science Advances.’

We weren’t hunting for anything in particular and ended up finding it by chance. The pregnant women were in our lab for another experiment when one of our graduate students saw the males acting strangely,” said Jeffrey Mogil, senior author of the study and professor of psychology at McGill University.”

Male Mice, especially virgin males, are well documented to engage in infanticidal violence to promote their genetic fitness,” the researchers said in the study. To keep possible predators at bay, pregnant and nursing females use chemosignaling, which involves sending chemical signals across the body to ensure that males do not approach their children.

The researchers questioned if n-pentyl acetate from a different source would cause the same stress reaction in men as the compounds in females’ urine. So they went to a nearby shop and bought banana oil, mixed it with cotton balls, and placed it in the cages of Male Mice. The men’ stress levels increased as a result of it.