Folk tales about animals indicating weather?

[jayhawk]

Don’t have any animals but my joints start aching right before a storm. I always thought it was just something old men talk about on the front porch but I’ll be darned it’s a real thing

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Two instances that jump out, one from Northern California earthquake country and one from the desert.

Dogs “knowing” that earthquakes are coming a few minutes before the shaking starts, happens often.

In Coues deer country you can catch them down in the washes digging the sand down. If you see them doing this in the late morning or mid day, you can plan on seeing an afternoon or evening rain come in. After the rain they will be back to their dig sites to drink water.

 

[Trial153]

Animals have nothing on my lower back. I wake up and I can tell you if a drop rain fell within a mile or fall

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Not the same but when I was a kid I had these firebelly toads, sometimes they would go crazy making all sorts of strange noises. I found out years later that they could predict small earth quakes and would make noise. I looked into it more and I did live close to small fault line.

 

[Plainsman79]

Not storm related but animal related in that they sense things.

My GSP started moaning and pushing his head into me when I had a stroke. It was a feeling like I never had before but was manageable. His behavior is what made me head to the hospital.

Same dog. We were at a hotel in Lexington Kentucky. Dog was shaking in the corner staring at the unknown. Tried calming him down, he went and tried to hide behind the toilet. Was so freaked out that he tore the toilet of the mounts.

I asked the front desk if they were any ghosts at the hotel, she laughed and said multiple ghost chasers came to the property over the years. Apparently a woman was killed in the hallway outside our room.

Similar story-My parents use to live in a home that was over 100 years old they had some pretty strange things happen to them (but that’s an entirely different thread). One day out of the blue their GSP started barking and growling to a closed closet door. There was obviously something there she didn’t like. It wasn’t the first time she’s acted out of her normal self when spirits show up.

 

[Wellsdw]

My great pryenese tells me the weather. If its raining hes wet, snowing he's covered in it, cold he wont come when called, and hot he wont get out of the garage.

All kidding aside i think it is a very interesting topic, my guess if we were less tech connected and more naturally connected we to would know all kind of crazy stuff

 

[Rotnguns]

There are a lot of folk tales about animals predicting weather or seasonal conditions, but most just don't seem to pan out. However, I do know of two that seem to have some truth to them. So, I'm putting this out there to see if anyone else has any animal, plant, or insect indicators they've heard that do seem to have some validity.

The first I can share, was personally seeing a news story about a week or two before Hurricane Katrina hit, where an old Louisiana guy was saying that the higher the turtles nest on any given year, the worse the hurricane season would be. That year he said he was concerned, because the turtles were nesting as high as they possibly could.

The second was that in 1862, California's central valley and the mountains around it got hit with so much flooding that the entire valley essentially turned into a giant lake for a few months. It also happens cyclically, about every 150 years or so. In 1862 over 4000 people died. I've read several accounts of the Indians in lower foothill communities warning of it coming, and relocating to higher ground because of it, well before the flooding hit. I want to say it had something to do with either pine cones or squirrel behaviors that were their warning, but can't remember. Their relocation was documented by several sources though.

Anyone else have anything like this?

China has been researching the possibility of using animal behavior to predict earthquakes for years:

China: Animal centres used to help predict earthquakes

Chinese seismologists will monitor behaviour of thousands of animals.

www.bbc.com

 

[ColPenguin]

When the birds stop chirping and the trees start talking, it is about ready to rain.

I think most people know the birds seek shelter and get quiet just before a rain storm The leaves flipping (colloquially, the trees talking) although not sign from animal is how I was told to watch for a rain storm, both the bird behavior and change in tree function.

 

[ztc92]

Growing up in MN we were always taught that if you were out fishing or on the water and saw loons flying, it meant it was going to rain soon. I can say in 20+ times if seeing a loon fly (which is quite a chore for them, YouTube it if you’re not familiar), every time I recall rain within 1-2 hours of seeing them take off.

My grandfather was such a firm believer we’d usually wrap up our fishing within an hour of seeing the loons take flight to ensure we didn’t get drenched or end up on the water with a lightning storm.

 

[william schmaltz]

I had a Raven once shut down a whole valley a few years ago. One of the most bizarre things to ever happen to me. I was on a solo moose hunt. It was a fly out so pretty remote. And it was evening right as the sky was being painted by the sunset. It had been a very breezy late September day. A Raven came from directly out of the sun and flew towards my camp, across the lake from west to east. I could hear it just as soon as I saw it. And it never stopped croaking from the time I could see it in the west to the time it faded into the east. Its distant eastern croak was the last sound I heard for several minutes other than my own pulse. The chaotic valley I was in was blanketed in an apocalyptic silence. The wind stopped, the howling of the nearby valleys and river stopped, not a leaf fell, the swarms of bugs were absent and silent, not a bird splashed or flew, the beavers and rodents were still, and the moose went silent. I couldn’t hear a boat on the not so distant river that was a local highway or a plane in the very busy September skies. At one point I literally questioned being alive. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced true silence and stillness for more than a few seconds until that point and don’t assume I ever will again until my end. It was a supernatural moment.

My favorite Alaskan book has always been Make Prayers to the Raven by Richard Nelson. That experience sorta had me questioning things. It was about 6 months after my daughter died.

 

[mtnwrunner]

It's a thing. Was up on a local highway a couple years back and there was a herd of elk and several deer with them milling about in the highway. It was very strange and they wouldn't leave. Just standing around looking confused.
About 30 minutes later, there was a small earthquake.
Animals are amazing and i think they can sense stuff we humans can't imagine.

Randy

 

[EastHumboldt]

I’ve always noticed starlings on the ground feeding in flocks and looking kind of frantic about it in the hours before a storm.

I had a border collie who was born deaf. As a post. He could somehow tell when a ups or fedex van was in front of the house, and he would run to the door to bark at it. Maybe felt the vibrations from the diesel? He could tell time without a watch. At 6:55 pm if we’re not on the couch ready to watch Jeopardy, he’d come and get us. He wasn’t that interested in trivia, 7 pm was also dinner time for him. Of course the switch to DST and back again would mess him up and he’d show up early or late… all confused and concerned about “Why aren’t we watching Jeopardy? It’s time for Jeopardy!!! ( and dinner)

 

[jahaze]

I can tell how angry my wife is going to be based on the number of beer cans on the lawn, that usually often means I need to find alternate shelter from the storm that's coming.


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[Drenalin]

I can tell how angry my wife is going to be based on the number of beer cans on the lawn, that usually often means I need to find alternate shelter from the storm that's coming.


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So she's a mean drunk?

 

[ozyclint]

About the most reliable indicator I know of is seeing swifts flying around. They fly in front of coming weather fronts catching insects.

Can't think of any other folklore indicator that's been accurate.

Some people here think that ants building mounds means big rains. Then it'll rain 5 months later and they say, "told ya so".

 

[2ski]

Growing up in MN we were always taught that if you were out fishing or on the water and saw loons flying, it meant it was going to rain soon. I can say in 20+ times if seeing a loon fly (which is quite a chore for them, YouTube it if you’re not familiar), every time I recall rain within 1-2 hours of seeing them take off.

My grandfather was such a firm believer we’d usually wrap up our fishing within an hour of seeing the loons take flight to ensure we didn’t get drenched or end up on the water with a lightning storm.

I've literally never seen a loon fky come to think of it. Always swimming and diving. I've never seen a merganser fly either. No i take that back. The only one I've seen was flying right before my buddy shot it. Never shooting one of those again. It stunk.

 

[justin davis]

I had a Raven once shut down a whole valley a few years ago. One of the most bizarre things to ever happen to me. I was on a solo moose hunt. It was a fly out so pretty remote. And it was evening right as the sky was being painted by the sunset. It had been a very breezy late September day. A Raven came from directly out of the sun and flew towards my camp, across the lake from west to east. I could hear it just as soon as I saw it. And it never stopped croaking from the time I could see it in the west to the time it faded into the east. Its distant eastern croak was the last sound I heard for several minutes other than my own pulse. The chaotic valley I was in was blanketed in an apocalyptic silence. The wind stopped, the howling of the nearby valleys and river stopped, not a leaf fell, the swarms of bugs were absent and silent, not a bird splashed or flew, the beavers and rodents were still, and the moose went silent. I couldn’t hear a boat on the not so distant river that was a local highway or a plane in the very busy September skies. At one point I literally questioned being alive. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced true silence and stillness for more than a few seconds until that point and don’t assume I ever will again until my end. It was a supernatural moment.

My favorite Alaskan book has always been Make Prayers to the Raven by Richard Nelson. That experience sorta had me questioning things. It was about 6 months after my daughter died.

Wow that’s a cool Story

 

[MNGrouser]

I've literally never seen a loon fky come to think of it. Always swimming and diving. I've never seen a merganser fly either. No i take that back. The only one I've seen was flying right before my buddy shot it. Never shooting one of those again. It stunk.

A little off-topic but loons are such an interesting bird. Their bodies are not built for walking on land. The NEED open water to take off. We occasionally have them migrate home too early in the spring. If they can't find open water they sometimes try to land on the road. (Guessing the black asphalt resembles water.) Once the land, they're stuck on the road until they can be rescued. It isn't summer here unless I've opened up the cabin and heard loons calling at night-time.

 

[type2bowhunter]

In 2019 my girlfriend and I were staying in an airbnb in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest of Southern California. It was the early evening when suddenly, out of nowhere, every bird in the area started going crazy chirping and rustling around. 10 seconds later there was a large earthquake.

 

[MT257]

Not animal indication. But it’ll rain 90 days after fog.