"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Saturday Science: Animal Reactions to the Solar Eclipse

I know it's Sunday. So what?

Photo:  NASA

It will only be a partial eclipse in Chicago, but I may hang out at the Zoo and check out how the animals are reacting. If they react. It would be interesting to be someplace where the eclipse will be total:

Margarita Woc Colburn’s childhood memories of a July 1991 total solar eclipse in Central America are of a social gathering for excited adult relatives who spent hours waiting for an event that was over in minutes.

But the future veterinarian’s gaze was drawn earthward.

“I was looking down on a valley in Guatemala, and I just remember the flock of birds, this massive thing going down to the trees getting ready for nesting, just like what you see at night,” Woc Colburn said, describing a short span when the moon completely obscured the sun. “Then, it felt like a new day. Birds came out and were singing.”

Actually, looking at the map of the path, I'm not sure there will be enough eclipse to notice.

Image:  Eclipse 2017.org

Via Balloon Juice.

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