Can Animals Sense Earthquakes? Some Think So
A few animals in nearby shelters seem to have sensed yesterday's tremor prior to their human caregivers.
A hawk much like this one was in the care of the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center yesterday when it seemed to notice the tremor that shook much of the east coast. Two hawks began to fly around and vocalize a few minutes prior to the earthquake, according to Amber Dedrick, a wildlife rehabilitator at the center.
Courtesy of the National Conference Center
Photos (1)
Photos
It’s been said that animals can often sense earthquakes before they happen, and while there is debate about this, some nearby animal care personnel noticed strange behavior prior to yesterday’s tremor.
Amber Dedrick, wildlife rehabilitator at Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Boyce, Va., said that two hawks the center keeps started to act strangely before the quake.
“One or two minutes before the earthquake, our education hawks started flying back and forth and vocalizing,” she said. These are the animals center personnel have the most contact with, and Dedrick didn’t know how the other birds were affected prior to the quake.
Kat DeMille
7:37 am on Thursday, August 25, 2011
Our manx began howling two minutes before and we had no idea what was wrong and then the quake happened. Animals are more aware of changes in their environment than humans because their senses require it even if they are domesticated.
Leah M. Kosin
3:24 pm on Saturday, August 27, 2011
My cat began to have accidents outside of the litter box on the day of the earthquake. It's been tough trying to get him to go back down there which may have been where he was when the earthquake hit.
Surly Girly
6:15 pm on Saturday, August 27, 2011
I can offer anecdotal evidence of animals sensing quakes well ahead of time.
We were living in Athens, Greece when a significant and destructive earthquake hit in February 1981. About 5-7 days prior, our home became overrun with field mice - and they were acting very strange. One came into the living room in the middle of the afternoon and stood up on its back legs ... right in front of the dog! Another ran across the rim of the bathtub one morning while I was in the shower. Then there was the one who ran across our bedclothes - while we were in bed! ... and another who climbed right up the vertical wooden frame of a wardrobe mirror. Their behavior was erratic, and they acted as though they were extremely disoriented and excitable.
We'd never even seen a mouse, mind you, before this "infestation" ... and this was all within a week of the impending quake. After it was over, they disappeared and we continued to live in the house - mouse-free - for another two years.
I think it's reasonable to correlate the behavior of earth-burrowing creatures with seismic movements of the earth, especially with an earthquake of the magnitude we experienced then.
(P.S.: If I had to choose, I'd say the quake took second place to the mice, in terms of sheer terror for me...)