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    FancyEnglish      Animals and Earhquakes         百科知识

       August 29, 2011

　

(CNN Student News) -- August 29, 2011 Animals and Earhquakes We have one more story for you before we go today. It`s about last week`s earthquake in Virginia. This thing was felt all over the eastern United States, and a lot of people were surprised when it hit, but not everybody. Lisa Fletcher of affiliate WJLA says there were some warning signs. You just had to know where to look. LISA FLETCHER, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): These gorillas were among many animals at the National Zoo to actually sense that something big was about to happen. DR. DON MOORE, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, THE NATIONAL ZOO: I`m no longer surprised by animal abilities because I know that they have better sensory capabilities than we do. FLETCHER (voice-over): Dr. Moore says as soon as the shaking stopped keepers from all over the zoo began reporting strange animal behaviors that happened right before the quake. The great apes raced high into their lookouts, and Moore says flamingos gathered into a big pink ball known as a defensive flock. Perhaps most impressive, the lemurs, who called out and clamored a full 15 minutes prior to the quake. MOORE: There were all of these behaviors, were atypical, given the behaviors that we observe in these animals at this time of day every single day. FLETCHER (voice-over): Snakes that would normally be sleeping were writhing about their enclosures, and orangutans bellowed, surprising their keepers. KC BRAESCH, NATIONAL ZOO: We thought it was strange. We stopped what we were doing and we watched her, and then we knew what was going on once we felt the shaking. FLETCHER (voice-over): Elephants can hear sound at lower frequencies than we can, and pick up vibrations through their sensitive foot pads, nearly every animal here likely more attuned than we are to our surroundings. MOORE: Whether they`re hero animals that can go and save people, or some other kind of hero animal that might be able to warn us of a heart attack or an earthquake or something like that, they have extrasensory abilities. And it fascinates us. (END VIDEO CLIP) AZUZ: Fascinating indeed. Probably need some serious research, but in the scientific community, a sixth sense for sniffing out earthquakes could really shake things up. Thanks for spending part of your day with us. I`m Carl Azuz.