It's well known that animals have a sixth sense that allows them to perceive things that we don't, but can they predict the weather? According to an old book, cats can…
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Feline meteorologists
The American newspaper NPR recently discovered a peculiar book written in 1884 by HHC Dunwoody, a lieutenant in the Signal Service of the United States Army. This institution was the forerunner of what is today the National Meteorological Service and its lieutenant had some very original ideas regarding weather forecasting. According to Dunwoody, the technology for weather predictions (at least that of his time) was overrated and not very accurate, so it was better to look for other alternatives.
The solution is to pay more attention to nature, specifically, animal behaviour.
Dunwoody proposed that observing the activities of some animals such as bats, dogs, mice, rabbits and even pigs could give us an indication of the weather for the next few days.
However, it seems that the most useful and accurate animals to have an accurate forecast of the climate were our felines.
"Cats have a reputation for being climate wise," says the lieutenant in his book.
What are the signs to look out for in a cat who could predict the rain
Thus, according to the pages, if we observe what our felines do, it can give us an idea of the climatological future. Here are some guidelines:
- If the cat sneezes, it is a sign of rain
- If the cat scratches a trunk or a tree, it is a sign that rain is coming
- The cardinal point a cat turns to and wipes its face after it rains indicates which way the wind will blow
- When cats lie on their backs with their mouth also facing up, a storm is expected
- When a cat snores, it will likely be bad weather
Please remember that this information comes from a book that is more than a century old, but, who knows, maybe feline owners have the key to predicting the weather in their hands.
