Farm Animals in Ohio Left Scared & Confused Over Eclipse Darkness
On April 8th, if you were lucky enough you were in the eclipse's path and were able to watch day turn into night in the middle of the day for just a few minutes. A woman in Oberlin, Ohio recorded her farm animals reacting to the darkness, and it was clear that they were very confused about what was happening.
CBS News shared the video clip, and it's clearly already dark when the woman started filming. Her goats are sitting and just looking around but watch how the ducks and geese respond to the sudden darkness. Make sure your sound is on!
I'm sure it was completely distressing for the animals to go from total sunlight one minute to complete darkness just minutes later. CBS News commenters shared similar stories. @Sophia shared, "The birds near me acted like it was morning when it was over." @crysta765 said, "Mine all acted like they do before we have a sudden thunderstorm! Roosters crowing, everyone ran inside..." and @Leah added, "Our chickens ran to the coop confused lol. I had to sit with them." Other commenters like @Canadian girl advised, "NASA was asking for animals' unusual behavior during the eclipse" and another commenter added, "NASA is interested in this video and data - be sure to send them this!"
Related: Woman Left Baffled After Her Chickens Have ‘A Glitch in the Matrix'
How Zoo Animals Reacted to the Eclipse
Scientists at the Fort Worth Zoo were excited to study their animals' reactions to the eclipse. One doctor said, "Our gorilla troop got up and walked to the door like it was time to go in for the night," he added, ""Two of our flocks of flamingos got much closer together. They started vocalizing a lot more, and one of them even started marching, which is a group bonding behavior." Other zoo animals showed behaviors that they were feeling anxious.
In Nevada, researchers noted that coyotes began yipping and a barred owl started hooting and flying around. Cicadas went completely silent. Like the ducks and geese in the video, everybody was very confused!
Here in Georgia, we got to see about 90% of the eclipse. The sky went from bright blue skies to a dim, orange color. The kids and I sat out on the deck and watched in awe, as the temperature seemed to dip slightly. My dog didn't seem to notice what was going on, and just napped like she always does. But there was story after story on social media of animals displaying unusual behavior...especially thinking it was time to settle in for the night. It was definitely a cool thing to see, and I enjoyed hearing everybody's different stories. Hopefully all of the animals are back to normal now!
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