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Friday, 26 August 2011 15:06

Written by Diana Nelson Jones

Keepers at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. are reporting that some of the animals reacted in anticipation of Tuesday’s earthquake in Mineral, Va.

We asked the Pittsburgh Zoo if the same thing happened there and heard no reports back, but some local chicken keepers reported that their hens reacted later in the evening, when there were apparently several aftershocks.

Several reported that their chickens tried to get up on a high surface and that this was unusual.

In Washington, according to a keeper who was interviewed on NPR’s Science Friday, the lemurs (there's one below) let out alarm howls 15 minutes before the quake, which happened about 10 minutes before 2 p.m.

A gorilla similarly screeched an alarm and grabbed her baby and climbed a tree.

Minutes before the tremblor, the flamingos ran around agitatedly then huddled together.

Here's more from the zoo's web site:

"All the snakes (including copperheads, cotton mouth, and false water cobra) began writhing during the quake. Normally, they are inactive during the day.

"Keepers were feeding the beavers and hooded mergansers (a species of duck) when the earthquake hit. The ducks immediately jumped into the pool. The beavers stopped eating, stood on their hind legs and looked around, then got into the water, too. They all stayed in the water. Within an hour, some of the beavers returned to land to continue eating."

Science has used dogs to detect cancers and we all know cats are mystics. We’ve missed the boat so far in the opportunity to employ animals as cheap research assistants.

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