Living things protecting themselves from natural disasters

Just yesterday, unfortunately, it is sad to announce that there was a major earthquake in China yesterday, killing 157 people and injuring thousands.  This disaster has also destroyed the homes of natural living things in China's southwest region of Sichuan.

I tried finding information to see if there was an odd behaviors exhibited by any species living in the area; I did not have much luck.  However, I did want to discuss a little about other natural disasters that unfortunately affected parts of the world since the opening of the new millennium.  

The first one I would like to discuss is about that major tsunami that hit Southeast Asia in 2004.  Animals were able to sense the coming of the natural disaster before it occurred!  This is because certain species have  sophisticated senses that differ from humans.   For instance, some animals detected the vibrations of the earthquake that hit along the floor of the Indian ocean prior to the tsunami.  From this, it would be really interesting to see if we could use animals to help detect or predict upcoming natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, etc.  

We pay the meterologists thousands of dollars to predict weather.  Maybe I should just listen to my pet!

In the following article mentions about how certain animals behaved differently in the recent event of a natural disaster:  Animal Behaviors.  Some of the ones I found most interesting were the following:

• Catfish in the area started to jump out of the water in massive packs and moved violently through the water
• Chickens stop laying their eggs due to environmental stress 
• Bees leaving their hives in response to sensing 
• Herds of elephants begin to run inland and higher north away from India's waters 

These are just some of the few examples of animals exhibiting these behaviors in response to upcoming natural disasters.  Now, all the animals mentioned above are typically not pets and are not found in the home.  So, are they domesticated animals that could detect or sense the coming of an earthquake?  The answer is YES! Dogs and cats also exhibit behaviors that can let their owners know something is not right. 

Something anecdotal I would like to share goes back to the year 2002.  It was around 7:30 AM when all of a sudden, Lady, my Jack Russell Terrier started to bark ferociously.  She ran towards the back of the house to bark for a good 5 minutes.  I had never seen this type of behavior from her before.  I then got to school a little later hearing that NYC had just experience some after shock activity that morning. It was not until the evening that I made the connection and wondered why Lady had been acting so weird that morning.

This is a picture of Lady back in 2003 at three years old.  That was the year she detected the after shock New York experienced.  

    Ten years later, at 13 years old now, Lady is still alive and well.  However, her senses may not be as acute at her older age.  

Jack Russell terriers are very territorial animals and have an amazing sense for smell and hearing.  When the after shock occurred in 2003, it was not that impacting but I would have had no idea it occurred with Lady.  Now in the year 2013, would she have sensed the same things as she did in 2003? That I am unsure about but it definitely proves that dogs can definitely sense or detect the upcoming of unfortunate natural disaster that transpire all around planet Earth.  This is just another reason it is crucial to maintain stability of biodiversity on this planet; animals can help to and have that "sixth sense".