Tarazet

Animals Avoided Catastrophe

Do animals have a sixth sense to avoid large-scale catastrophies? From Yahoo:

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Wild animals seem to have escaped the Indian Ocean tsunami, adding weight to notions they possess a "sixth sense" for disasters, experts said Thursday.

Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24,000 people along the Indian Ocean island's coast seemingly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found.

"No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit. I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening," H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of Sri Lanka's Wildlife Department, said Wednesday.

The waves washed floodwaters up to 2 miles inland at Yala National Park in the ravaged southeast, Sri Lanka's biggest wildlife reserve and home to hundreds of wild elephants and several leopards. "There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence about dogs barking or birds migrating before volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. But it has not been proven," said Matthew van Lierop, an animal behavior specialist at Johannesburg Zoo.

Twice a day a train passes nearby my home. The rumblings are like a truck going past. But long before I can even hear anything, my cats rush to the window to watch. They are able to detect the sub-sonic sounds or micro-shakes caused by the train far in advance of it. A dog at work is the same way, running to the porch (outside an office) and barking.

I believe there was even a study showing that cockroaches can be used to detect earth tremors.

No doubt these abilities must have evolved, perhaps during periods when the Earth was far more active and perhaps dangerous?

Posted by Jeff Soyer at January 2, 2005 08:48 AM