Ahhh, the ability to predict the weather. Us mere human meteorologists may squabble over who is the most accurate. But, believe it or not, we aren’t the only inhabitants of this world who prognosticate the weather. Much of the animal kingdom possess an innate ability to predict the weather.
That means everyone from my dog Ralph running and hiding when a thunderstorm is coming, to Punxsutawney Phil, top yes, even WSTM’s Doppler The Weather Cat hiding behind the couches in the lobby, can sense and predict a change in the weather.
Brian Underwood, Research Wildlife Biologist at SUNY ESF says, “They are able to respond to these very short term events. And the really big one, for most wild animals, are low pressure systems. They have an internal barometer that is remarkable.”
Susan Riley of Skaneateles agrees. “I had a cat, his name was Buddy, and he knew when something odd was gonna happen, like thunderstorms and that. He’d run and hide, before it happened, so I knew something was coming up,” says Riley.
We’ve learned that the animal kingdom can be a very good predictor of short term weather patterns. But what about those cues we humans look at in the animal kingdom for long-term weather prediction? For example, the fur on a wooly caterpillar?
Underwood says “I think there’s probably some, a modicum of truth to some of that. But, I think anything longer than about 2 or 3 months is probably stretching it…most mammals, for example, have a little gland in their head that keeps track of the sunlight they are exposed to, and it’s a cumulative thing.”
The accumulation of that sunlight information helps slowly change the animals physiological processes over time, such as when the animal will molt into its winter coat, or when it will start gathering food to store in caches for the winter.
So, while animals may not be able to tell you exactly how much snow Syracuse will pickup this winter, their physiological responses can give us some insight into the meteorological patterns heading into the upcoming cold weather season.
