You will have often heard very popular ways among people of how to anticipate the rain, such as the bad smell that the sewers give off, your own bathroom (although that problem may be due to other circumstances), and also some like the one that we could comment now, which is that the flies tend to stick more and it is difficult to get rid of them. No, it is not that they feel alone and suddenly feel a fatal attraction towards us, all this has its explanation.
Many animals have developed an instinct for coming rain, especially those that may be seriously compromised by storms. To do this, we are going to review and explain wise knowledge that many farmers have learned due to the need to anticipate this meteorological phenomenon, on the different behaviors of certain animals:
Bees
In the face of rain and cold, they lose the ability to move. For this reason I put them in the first place. A hive, where inside the environment must always be dry and an average temperature of approximately 36ºC, is for them the refuge par excellence from the rain.
Something important to note about bees, like many insects at their most active (yes, you got it right, like flies!). In the case of bees it is clear, the rush to return to the honeycomb, the ants return to the anthill, etc. All this hustle and bustle does not go unnoticed by some predators. As mentioned in the article on animal behavior in the face of heat and is also related to the animal behavior to anticipate rain.
Insectivorous birds
There is no better time to see them fly more than usual than at some hour before the storms. If any reader has the opportunity to see it, notice the type of bird that flies. Normally quite at ground level, while they hunt insects who do not want to be drowned by water or who cannot fly higher. These birds, like the "flycatcher", usually disappear moments before the rain, since they also end up taking refuge.
Once you learn how to use this striking technique, because it's so visual and seems logical, yet few people have noticed it, you'll be able to predict rain without too much trouble. But not all insects are active for the same reasons.
The flies
Although it may not seem like it, flies are inherently heavy. In times of high humidity, each flap of their wings takes a lot more work to hold. For this reason, it's easy to mistake "heavy" for "it's going to rain." Perhaps it's just that we have a very high humidity level. When they become "Heavy" from the rainThis is usually due to the low air pressure before the rain. Under these circumstances, the air flutters less than normal, causing them to fly low.
Furthermore, this flight behavior has been linked to changes in the weather. Thus, the climax of Its heaviness is the low air pressure, plus humid air. They also overload their hygroscopic wings, making them heavier than normal, even for themselves.
The Frogs
We have all heard frogs croaking many times, but what about the particular croaking they make before a storm? Then they make a very peculiar and different sound than usual; it's their way of expressing alertness. If the croak is also loud, this similarly indicates the magnitude of the storm. If you hear this loud croak, be alert, because a stronger than usual storm may be coming. This behavior is similar to that observed in other animals in situations of climate change, as mentioned in the study on earthquakes.
Cows
If you are in the field, without an umbrella, with cows around and you see that they are all sitting down, first warning, it may rain. If you don't have an umbrella, keep being alert for the signs described above. But if you also see that They swirl around each other on one side of the field all together, then yes, the probability of rain increases quite a bit, keep your senses alert in case you hadn't noticed anything else. This behavior can also be related to what happens in birds and mammals in the face of climate change.
The goat forecast
Finally I wanted to make a mention of an animal species that we will not be able to find around here, but very curious to know. There is a town in America where a radio channel says that it can predict the rain and if it will fall a lot or a little depending on the goats that live there.
It is seen that if the goats are at the top of the mountain, there is no danger of rain. If they see that the goats have descended half a hill, it will rain, but not excessively. However, they say whenever it rains very hard, all the goats go down to the valley to prevent themselves.
The adaptation that many animals present to the rain is more than to marvel. It is something that perplexes us when faced with the impossibility of developing that instinct or ability. It invites us to reflect on whether we know as much about us as we think we control.
