Can Animals Sense Natural Disasters?
Nick CarrawayImagine this: you are sitting around on your couch relaxing with your favorite animal companion. Your dog or cat is being really lazy, just lying there, when suddenly your pet jumps up and bolts for the door and you have no idea why. There have been no changes inside the house, and there are no noises coming from outside. You might get up and see what's at the front door, or you may just dismiss your animal as crazy. But could your pet's seemingly inexplicable flight be the first warning sign of an impending disaster?
It seems that somehow animals have a keener sense for oncoming natural disasters than humans do. The most recent evidence from a recent California earthquake confirms this theory. In the video below, a lazy dog is able to sprint out of the building several seconds before a devastating earthquake hits.
Examples like this have been recorded in the wake of all kinds of earthquakes and other scenes of human tragedy. Before the tsunami hit Thailand in 2004, there were reports of elephants and other animals seeking higher ground, escaping well before the deluge of water hit the mainland. Similarly, there have been studies done that suggest some dogs can sense the oncoming of an epileptic seizure in their human companions. A few years ago, a Rhode Island cat named Oscar gained media attention for his ability to predict death among advanced dementia patients at a nursing home. It would seem that even with all our advances in science and medicine, animals may still have the advantage when it comes to being tuned into nature.
Given animals' sixth sense of disaster, two questions arise. First, what are we humans missing? And second, did we ever have it? The most logical explanation is that animals have stronger senses of smell and hearing than humans. Perhaps dogs and elephants can hear the initial vibrations of earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis well before humans do. Perhaps seizures, cancer and death cause a specific odor which is unknowable to the human olfactory gland. Or maybe animals have some inkling of changes in electromagnetic waves or other forces which we can only measure with advanced scientific instruments. Whatever it is animals have, we certainly do not; otherwise, we should be able to evacuate disaster zones before the death toll starts to climb.
The second question is harder to answer. One must believe that the human race was more in touch with nature in its past primitive existence. We only have to look at the dinosaurs to conclude that there is very little chance of survival for a species who cannot avoid natural disasters. Historical accounts of early human civilization show us that our ancestors were very attuned to the seasons of the earth and the movements of our solar system. From the Ancient Greeks to the Mayans, many cultures' deities were representative of the natural phenomena we now explain with modern science. Even up to a few hundred years ago, most people were farmers who had the innate understanding of natural events necessary in order to produce successful harvests. It is why we still look to the Farmers' Almanac today for longterm weather forecasts or rely on old traditions like Groundhog's Day to predict the change of the seasons.
So why have we lost our connection to nature? Was it the industrial revolution that drove humans out of the farmland and countryside and into factories and urban areas? The rise of radio and television that allowed us to get our weather report through a metal wire instead of looking up at the sky? Or have the Internet, cell phones and other modern conveniences distracted us to the point that we no longer provide our senses with the free time to notice environmental changes?
Whatever the causes of our natural disconnect, it is clear that we must find a way to resynchronize our sense to the natural order of things if we hope to avoid the kinds casualties produced by earthquakes and tsunamis. The human race must focus as much effort toward understanding nature as we give to scientific endeavors. Or at the very least, we should pay some more attention to the peculiar whims of our domesticated animals. So the next time, your dog starts barking for apparently no reason, maybe pay a little more attention. Your canine may be just his telling you that there's a cat outside, but it might also be his growing concern that as pack leader, you are failing to apprehend the clear signs of danger that mother nature is broadcasting.
Reader Comments (5)
Funny you should post this particular essay only a few days after my dog freaked out and stared at my bedroom window for 45 minutes the other night when I was tucked in and trying to fall asleep. The dog's hackles were raised and so were mine and by the time I saw the two red eyes staring in at me, I can tell you, an earthquake wouldn't have gotten me moving any faster. It turned out the nieghborhood cat had somehow jumped up on my roof and landed on my bedroom window sill. It's the same damn cat that's always getting high on my cat mint in the summertime. Anyway, I enjoyed your article very much and I absolutely agree that the Industrial Revolutiobn is at the root of the problem. We are completely disconnected from nature and our inborn sixth senses are hopelessly atrophied. There is only one final course of action left to take: do a Thoreau and go to the woods to live deliberately. Thanks for the interesting post.
You really make an interesting point by suggesting if we can harness this animal instict or power in the animals themselves or in us, we could prevent that natural disasters that will ineveitably happen.
I have never been a fan of animals, and I cringe to see this animal in harm's way. I understand that animals suffer from disasters the same way humans do, but we focus very little on their aftermath. Recent natural disasters have shown how much faith we have in diasters not happening in our environment. We act surprise and then humanity tries to recover.
Are humans homes and lifestyle to permanent? Do we not prepare for the worst until it is too late. Rarely do natural disasters happen out of the blue. If we live near water or in Florida, we know sooner or later that a hurricane will come. If the poverty in Haiti was not complete or New Orleans, would the effects be just as bad. I do not think so.
Animals are caught in humans' folly and pride. You bring up a very good point about animals in natural disasters, and area that is often ignored due to their secondary standing in society.
"what are we humans missing? And second, did we ever have it?"
We aren't missing it. We forgot how to access it. There are several ways to access it. One, is through advanced meditation techniques. The other is through the use of psychedelic drugs.
It is interesting you note that humans have lost their connection to nature. This is precisely why certain psychedelic PLANT medicines work so well in re-establishing the connection with nature. Psilocybin-containing mushrooms let people tap into the primal intelligence of the planet. You can literally float on waves of consciousness, tuning in at will to whatever frequencies are extending out through the multi-verse.
If you look at the mycelial connections of fungi, they resemble a vast neural network. Did anyone see the special on the Science Channel entitled "Revenge of the Plants"? It examined the concept of plant intelligence. There is certainly evidence to suggest that the root systems of plants contain a primitive intelligence. Darwin even proposed this in the 19th century. Biologists are starting to revisit this theory.
Did anyone read the article a few years back where they found that there was a vast fungal organism several states wide in the northeast, extending into Canada? I'm dead f***ing serious. Whereas you might all dismiss me as crazy, I am confident that one day science will PROVE that plants have consciousness - it merely works on a far slower time-scale than the minds of people.
Good stuff, shaman. Plant life having the universe in it. Its own survival mechanism. Its desire to stay and persist and even dominate. What makes this life so desireable? Does this prove that there is nothing after?