while many of us are preparing for the upcoming Solar Eclipse, animals (pets/wildlife) will be naturally caught by the premature darkening.
“Because it turns dark very suddenly sometimes wild animals, they think night time has arrived unexpectedly so they act erratically, they can act confuse can move around in a little bit of panic,” says prof of science and mathematics in Fanshawe’s Liberal and Language studies, Isaac Haque.
Talking about pets he says, “Pets like cats and dogs can get confused and scared as well so it is a good idea to keep your pets busy during that time, may be give them toys or something to eat that would help.”
“In wildlife strange things have been observed like bird coming home to roost during the totality period, nocturnal animals like bats and owls come out when they’re not supposed to as all of the sudden it goes dark they become active,” says Haque.
“It’s also has been observed”, Haque continues, “during the eclipse, most animals, except grizzly bears, experienced confusion and panic, disrupting their usual routines. For instance, crickets, chirped for mates in darkness, but got confused when light suddenly returned. This phenomenon disturbed their daily schedules.”
In addition, NASA is running a citizen science project called “the eclipse soundscapes.” Participants can share recordings of wildlife, pets, and human activity during the event, noting changes in noise levels and traffic patterns, including whether traffic stops due to eclipse viewing. Submissions are accepted via eclipsesoundscapes.org.
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