2009.05.18
Early earthquake warning from your dog?
Dexter, our typically calm greyhound, was unusually restless Friday night. He woke my hubby up several times before 4 a.m. but settled down right after that. I slept blissfully through the night as did our other two pooches.
We live at the northeast tip of Roanoke County, about a quarter mile from Boutetourt County, so we were not close to the epicenter of the earthquake that happened in Southwest Roanoke at 4:08 a.m. None of our neighbors reported hearing or feeling anything.
Through casual conversation with other pet parents from the southern part the city and county, many people told me their dogs were out of sorts on Friday. Katie Halsted, owner of Six Wags Dog Park in Salem, said she and her staff, especially daycare attendant Sue Grimm, thought their regular pooches were "a little off" late last week. Not big personality changes, she said, just a general restlessness among the pack.
Halsted also told me her 3-year-old son's description of the quake, which he experienced at his grandparents' house near Cave Spring. He said his room wiggled. Great choice of verbs, young man.
What do you think? Do you think our dogs may be more in tune with the earth's movement than we are? According to an article published by National Geographic, the US Geological Survey, the government agency that tracks seismological activity and rated our quake a 3.0, says there is no reliable evidence that animals can predict shifts and quakes before they happen.
But the notion that they can has been around for as long as people have cohabitated with critters.
Did your pet seem to sense something was amiss before the earth wiggled?
Molly was unusually mouthy on Saturday evening, but when the quake woke both of us up at 4 a.m. she just laid in her spot on the bed and stared at us like we were crazy!
Comment by Tami — May 18, 2009 @ 11:52 am
My daughter lives within a mile of the epicenter and was up getting ready for work. She says her cat was wild, pacing, meowing right before it hit, then after the quake, she was really strange. She was hissing at the soapy water as it went down the shower drain. I got a kick out of that!
I was also getting ready for work and felt the building shake but didn't notice any different behavior in my cats. They just wanted their breakfast before I left for work.
Comment by Debi — May 18, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
People can say what they want about their pets and weather. My hubby and I currently have 2 Dals that will be 5 in Sept. Since day 1 when we brought them home our boy Dal has always paced and wanted to be very close around me or hubby when there is a weather change. The sky can be clear as a bell and time wise from an hr or so we have had a weather change. We call him our weather boy. His sister on the other hand unlike our previous female Dal who hated a bad weather change is cool as a cucumber. So we believe firmly that some critters know better than the weather people that a weather change is coming.
Comment by Sharon — May 18, 2009 @ 2:19 pm
Being a transplant from southern California, my older Bloodhound Twinkle Toes slept right through it. My Bloodhound puppy, however, LEVITATED! I thought he was going to hit the ceiling fan. He raced around the house checking rooms to see if all was well - then back to bed he came.
It was rocker all right! Just like the 'old days'.
Comment by Tracy — May 18, 2009 @ 3:47 pm
"no reliable evidence that animals can predict shifts and quakes before they happen."?
Couldn't prove it by my cat. He was already up and on the other side of the room when the shock woke me up.
Comment by Ed H — May 18, 2009 @ 8:08 pm