How a solar eclipse can affect animals

AccuWeather

It's been reported during past solar eclipses that some animals change their behavior thinking night has fallen.  Here's how an eclipse can affect wildlife.

Transcript

00:00 [ ♪ Music ♪ ]

00:05 During a solar eclipse, people can not only watch the moon block out the sun,

00:10 but they can also see a 360 degree view of sunset, stars and planets appearing,

00:16 and even feel temperatures dropping.

00:19 It isn't just humans affected, animals are also affected by solar eclipses.

00:24 However, unlike us, the animal kingdom does not know what's happening.

00:29 In past eclipses, NASA reported cases of wildlife and farm animals behaving differently under totality.

00:37 A common reaction was to confuse the eclipse for night time and get ready for sleep,

00:41 only for the sun to return minutes later.

00:44 Crickets may even start chirping at the peak of the eclipse.

00:48 During the 2017 Great American Eclipse, Cornell University and the University of Oxford

00:53 reported a study of birds becoming confused.

00:56 When a solar eclipse occurs, watch your pets, local wildlife or even animals at a zoo.

01:02 Who knows what you will find.

01:04 Reporting for AccuWeather, I'm meteorologist Jeff Cornish.

01:07 [ ♪ Music ♪ ]

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