I just read the news article below and want to have a better
understanding of how animals sense danger.  In particular, how do they
sense impending storms (you see this a lot in "scary" movies where the
barn animals foreshadow the danger that is coming by becoming
restless, etc.) and how do they differ from humans in this respect?
NEWS ARTICLE:

Where Are All the Dead Animals? Sri Lanka Asks

Wed Dec 29, 4:41 AM ET 


COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan wildlife officials are stunned -- the
worst tsunami in memory has killed around 22,000 people along the
Indian Ocean island's coast, but they can't find any dead animals.


Canadian Press  
 Slideshow: Asian Tsunami Disaster 
  

Giant waves washed floodwaters up to 2 miles inland at Yala National
Park in the ravaged southeast, Sri Lanka's biggest wildlife reserve
and home to hundreds of wild elephants and several leopards.


"The strange thing is we haven't recorded any dead animals," H.D.
Ratnayake, deputy director of the national Wildlife Department, told
Reuters Wednesday.


"No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit," he added. "I
think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know
when things are happening."


At least 40 tourists, including nine Japanese, were drowned. 


The tsunami was triggered by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean Sunday,
which sent waves up to 15 feet high crashing onto Sri Lanka's
southern, eastern and northern seaboard, flooding whole towns and
villages, destroying hotels and causing widespread destruction.

This article might interest you:

http://www.tamu.edu/univrel/aggiedaily/news/stories/04/070104-3.html

I grew up in California, near the San Andreas fault. I had horses,
chickens, cats, dogs...and we could always tell when an earthquake was
coming because of their behavior. They were restless, and generally
wanted to run away. So it comes as no surprise to me that the animals
in Asia would sense the earthquake and Tsunami, and run for higher
ground.

Kriswrite

ditto - California native, me too

we used to refer to 'earthquake weather', which partly meant it was
quiet because the birds stopped singing.  But there's something else
that happens in the atmosphere, can't quite put a finger on it.  It's
like when your ears start ringing or something.  Weird.

I'm pondering something more human-related:  I had a dream the week
before the disaster that I went into an apartment that was very spare
in it's furnishings (like India), and I found all the sinks and
toilets were over-flowing, everything was wet, then I found that
everyone in my family was drowned.  I picked up my son (who is now 16,
but he was a toddler in the dream) and was completely overcome with
grief.  Then an old friend of mine, who is East Indian, appeared and
said we had to leave.  I didn't want to but he was insistant, and I
woke up in the tussle that ensued.

This is the second time I've had a premonition dream of a major
disaster; the first was a huge earthquake in Japan, and I dreampt a
gigantic black cloud of greif was moving quickly across the Pacific
toward CA.  Woke up thinking 'tsunami' but it didn't reach the US.

I think time doesn't really exist in some realms, and animals (and
humans too) can sense events before they happen in the waking world.

ts

p.s. just refllecting on my GA moniker (which was chosen quite on a
whim) . . . I must be a time and space tripper!

A friend of mine was in a jungle somewhere or other when all the
animals took flight - in the same direction.

There was mass panic in the animal kingdom.

Some time later, the cause of their anxiety became apparent to him. It
was some natural phenomenon.

So, yes! Evidently, animals do have some intimation of a forthcoming
natural disaster.

Interesting you mention this, for in the reports I saw on tv, they
have repeatedly talked of rotting animal and human carcasses in India.

btw, just a thought, If animals can/do sense danger most accurately, I
would think fish would do as well, but the tsunami unleashed a wave of
dead/dying fish too.

"If animals can/do sense danger most 
accurately, I would think fish would do 
as well, but the tsunami unleashed a wave of
dead/dying fish too."

I take no sides in the general argument, but where were the fish
supposed to go?  Higher ground?

Here's an interesting article:

Did animals sense the tsunami?
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4D417570-F713-4786-9472-F764303EC556.htm

There was a nature program on TV some time back. Talking of all the
different sense some animals have. Fur animals it is thought sense
static differences in the ground just before and earth quake. It is
well worth your time to do further search on the web, etc. There is so
many animals with senses that we are just now able to read with
electronic equipment. You will be come jealous of what you do not
have.

there is alot of documented cases of animals hightailing it before a
disaster, i cant think of any definit sources off the top of my head,
but it is believed that they can sence the disturbance on a molecular
level long before it's strong enough for us to feel it.
it's like a highened sence of touch, like some blind people get coz
their forced to pay more attention to it.