In the early morning of December 26th, 2004, a massive earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami that sent giant waves to Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Over 200,000 people lost their lives that day. It was a tragic day that no human could have predicted, yet there are countless stories of animals who did seem to anticipate the deadly disaster.
In both Sri Lanka and Thailand, elephants fled up hills away from the ocean an hour before the tsunami hit. Birds flew away from low-lying areas, and zoo animals hid. There were also reports of two ocean-loving dogs that refused to go to the beach with their owner 90 minutes before the tsunami. There were stories of bats active and awake 30 minutes before the tsunami, even though they’d normally be sleeping during the day.
There are many theories that try to explain what was going on with these animals. Maybe animals are able to sense vibrations in the earth before an earthquake. Perhaps earthquakes release gases from the earth that only some animals can detect. It’s also conceivable that earthquakes cause sounds that humans can’t hear, but animals can. While an acute sense of smell, sound, or vibration might be the key to understanding their advance warning, Rupert Sheldrake believes animals have access to a more mysterious sixth sense.
Sheldrake is a biochemist and the author of the book, Dogs That Know When Their Owner Is Coming Home. Sheldrake surveyed dog and cat owners about whether their animals seemed to know when they were on their way home. Fifty percent of dog owners and thirty percent of cat owners said ‘yes.’ Intrigued, Sheldrake set up experiments with over 100 pet owners to see if their dogs could read minds. He videotaped these animals to see if they would come to the door or window before the owner came home.
Sheldrake demonstrated in his experiments that dogs did seem to perceive when their owner was on the way home. In one of the most successful cases, he filmed a dog named Jaytee in Manchester, England. Sheldrake chose random times for Pam, Jaytee’s owner, to return home. During the time that Pam was at work, Jaytee was only at the window 4% of the time, but when Pam was on her way home, Jaytee was at the window 55% of the time.
Not everyone takes Sheldrake’s research seriously, but if animals are capable of some extrasensory perception, they might serve as an early warning system for natural disasters. Sheldrake proposes a hotline where pet owners could report strange behavior. He writes, “if there was a sudden surge of calls from a particular region, this could indicate that an earthquake was imminent.”
References:
https://www.sheldrake.org/research/animal-powers/listen-to-the-animals
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2005/01/news-animals-tsunami-sense-coming/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2084017/A-Cambridge-scientist-believes-seen-beginning-animals-telepathic-powers.html
In the early morning of December 26th, 2004, an earthquake triggered a tsunami. It sent large waves to Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Over 200,000 people lost their lives that day. It was a tragic day that no human could have prepared for. Yet there are countless stories of animals who did seem to expect the deadly disaster.
In both Sri Lanka and Thailand, elephants ran up hills away from the ocean an hour before the waves hit. Birds flew away, and zoo animals hid. Two ocean-loving dogs refused to go to the beach with their owner 90 minutes before the waves hit. Bats were active 30 minutes before the earthquake, even though they should have been sleeping during the day.
There are many ideas that try to explain what was going on with these animals. Maybe animals are able to sense movement in the earth before an earthquake. Perhaps earthquakes release gases from the earth that only some animals can sense. It’s also possible that earthquakes cause sounds that humans can’t hear, but animals can. Smell or sound might be the key to understanding what happened. But not everyone agrees. Rupert Sheldrake believes animals have a sixth sense.
Sheldrake is the writer of the book, Dogs That Know When Their Owner Is Coming Home. He asked animal owners if their animals seemed to know when they were on their way home. 50% of dog owners and 30% of cat owners said ‘yes.’ Sheldrake set up experiments with over 100 animal owners to see if their dogs could read minds. He recorded these animals to see if they would come to the door or window before the owner came home.
Sheldrake showed in his experiments that dogs did seem to know when their owner was on the way home. In one of the most successful cases, he filmed a dog named Jaytee. Sheldrake chose different times for Pam, Jaytee’s owner, to return home. During the time that Pam was at work, the dog was only at the window 4% of the time. But when Pam was on her way home, he was at the window 55% of the time.
Not everyone takes Sheldrake seriously. But if animals do have a sixth sense, they might serve as an early warning system for natural disasters. Sheldrake proposes a phone line where animal owners could report strange behavior. If there was a sudden increase of calls from a particular area, it might mean that an earthquake was coming.
References:
https://www.sheldrake.org/research/animal-powers/listen-to-the-animals
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2005/01/news-animals-tsunami-sense-coming/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2084017/A-Cambridge-scientist-believes-seen-beginning-animals-telepathic-powers.html
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