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Tsunami Adds to Belief in Animals' 'Sixth Sense'

B

Brutuskend

Lifer
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Wild animals seem to have escaped the Indian Ocean tsunami, adding weight to notions they possess a "sixth sense" for disasters, experts said Thursday.

Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24,000 people along the Indian Ocean island's coast seemingly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found.


"No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit. I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening," H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of Sri Lanka's Wildlife Department, said Wednesday.
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Link

 
This isn't a slam against people that have never lived in the country but this isn't new news to anyone in the farmlands. It has always been known by people around here. I grew up on a farm (120 acres) and we watched the animals to tell what the weather was going to do. You would think that these folks there were hit by the tsunami would have known to watch the animals too.
 
It's been proven that animals can sense vibrations and such miles away. They don't have a sixth sense, they just have very accute senses and could probably feel such a huge earthquake from many many miles away.
 
Originally posted by: FrankyJunior
It's been proven that animals can sense vibrations and such miles away. They don't have a sixth sense, they just have very accute senses and could probably feel such a huge earthquake from many many miles away.
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Bingo

When your very survival on a daily basis depends on detecting (and hopefully avoiding) the bigger predator that is about to pounce on and eat you, acute sensitivity to almost any stimuli is a must (and vice-versa if you are the predator trying to catch the prey!)
 
Sixth sense is such a poor term though, it implies a real concrete sense like vision, but I suspect it's more along the lines of an instinctual 'oh, crap -- ground == shaking --> head for the hills!'
 
I'm surprised that they didn't even find a dead uncaged house pet. They've must have all escaped and ran for the hills.
 
Originally posted by: Ranger X
I'm surprised that they didn't even find a dead uncaged house pet. They've must have all escaped and ran for the hills.
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Well...there are a lot of hungry people out there right now :evil:
 
I thought we figured this out already? any guy with a dog knows that just before he's about to pass a big one, the dog makes a run for it
 
Animals are still subject to the principles of natural selection (they felt the earthquake & heard the waves coming), humans are relatively isolated from most natural selection pressures..

Example: People went to the beach to watch the waves, while animals ran towards higher ground.
 
animals: hey, where'd all the water in the ocean go (it's not low tide)... run for the hills!

people: hey, where'd all the water in the ocean go... look everybody all the water is gone! Let's all congregate on the beach and look!
 
Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
Animals are still subject to the principles of natural selection (they felt the earthquake & heard the waves coming), humans are relatively isolated from most natural selection pressures..

Example: People went to the beach to watch the waves, while animals ran towards higher ground.
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Reminds me of that scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 😉

?He stayed at his post? when the trainees ran??
 
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