How many times have you read an account of a natural disaster and thought, “I wish we had better warning systems”? Our weather and monitoring instruments, sophisticated as they are, still have serious limitations. We can’t predict earthquakes, for example.

And yet much better warning systems do exist. It appears animals’ senses are finely tuned to their environments, and they do an excellent job of detecting impending natural disasters. This was explained in the article “When Crickets Stop Chirping, It’s Time to Run: 10 Animal Early Warnings” (https://www.dictionaryscoop.com/article/When-crickets-stop-chirping-its-time-to-run-10-animal-early-warnings?).

For instance, elephants have been seen to move to higher ground before earthquakes. Apparently they can detect low-frequency seismic vibrations through their feet. And they’re not the only species that realizes something is amiss. Ants have also been observed to change their behavior before quakes; most likely they can feel vibrations and changes in the soil. 

Tornados are the most destructive threat where I live. In this case we should take our cue from birds, who are very sensitive to changes in air pressure. According to the article, golden-winged warblers quickly left Tennessee days before a deadly 2014 tornado outbreak, returning only after it was completely safe.

You’ve heard the cliche about rats leaving a sinking ship? India and Bangladesh has witnessed mass rat migrations before flash floods. Some believe their whiskers help detect water movement and maybe even underground vibrations.

Even sharks, who can detect changes in barometric pressure, dive deeper to avoid the surface turmoil of hurricanes.

So maybe our best bet to keep safe is simply to turn to nature. Our animal friends have a lot to teach us.