Can Animals Predict Earthquakes?

(Above: What were the toads trying to tell us?)

Last week, thousands of toads inexplicably appeared in the streets of Mianzhu, China. Hundreds of miles away, zebras began banging their heads against the doors of their zoo cages and normally docile pandas stomped around in their pens. Crazed elephants swung their trunks at their keepers while the screeches of peacocks shattered visitors' eardrums.

Then, on the afternoon of May 12, an earthquake struck. It leveled schools, destroyed countless other buildings, and left thousands upon thousands of people dead or homeless. Now the question that everyone wants answered is: Did the animals know?

For centuries, people have witnessed strange animal behavior in the hours before earthquakes. But to this day, no one has figured out why animals seem to be able to predict the disasters. Do they feel rumblings that we can't? Can they detect changes in electrical fields or sniff gases being released from the earth? Perhaps they hear sounds that human ears don't register.

Whatever the reason, scientists would love to be able to harness the animals' predictive powers. Both China and Japan have tried in the past, and they've experienced many successes--and many false alarms. But I'll tell you this: If I ever spot a thousand toads crossing Fifth Avenue, I'm getting the heck out of New York.


Read more here, here, and here.

(Below: Pandas--because they're cute.)