1Smаll аnimаls eat mоre in relatiоn tо their own size than large animals do. 2For instance, a field mouse eats as much as its own body weight every day. 3That is, a one-ounce mouse will eat one ounce of food a day, or 100 percent of its body weight. 4However, an elephant that may weigh twelve thousand pounds will eat about six hundred pounds of food a day. 5As astounding an amount of food as that is to eat, it is still only 5 percent (or 1/20th) of the elephant’s body weight.