Many people believe the end of the world is tomorrow, December 21, 2012. This time based on the Mayan calendar. I say "this time" because as we all know, there have been many predictions made in the past about the end times, coming from a variety of places.
According to the Bible and other religious sources, like Allan Kardec's The Spirits' Book, no one can predict the end time, for only God knows the exact time and He's not telling us. In The Spirits' Book, it says if you think God or another spirit has told you an exact date of the end times (or even your or someone else's death), ignore it, as such information is coming from an evil spirit, and--at best--you possibly may get a vague sign but not a precise date of the end times (if indeed there is such a date, especially with the theory of reincarnation....)
I agree with the above statements. No one really knows the time of the end of the world if there will be such a thing (as I believe in reincarnation). No one will ever know until then. But I do strongly believe animals can give us a clue as to when the end of the world is truly near.
I believe animals have predicted earthquakes. For example, in 373 B.C., historians recorded that animals, including rats, snakes and weasels, deserted the Greek city of Helice in droves just days before a quake devastated the area.
Accounts of similar animal anticipation of earthquakes have surfaced across the centuries since. Catfish moving violently, chickens that stop laying eggs and bees leaving their hive in a panic have been reported. Many people with companion animals have said they've witnessed their dogs and cats acting strangely before the ground shook—barking or whining for no apparent reason, or showing signs of nervousness and restlessness.
Wildlife experts believe animals' more acute hearing and other senses might enable them to hear or feel the Earth's vibration, tipping them off to approaching disaster long before humans realize what's going on. Other ideas suggest animals detect electrical changes in the air or gas released from the Earth. Earthquakes are a sudden phenomenon. Seismologists have no way of knowing exactly when or where the next one will hit, but animals seem to know. The belief that wild and domestic animals possess a sixth sense, and know in advance when the earth is going to shake, has been around for centuries. One of the world's most earthquake-prone countries is Japan, where devastation has taken countless lives and caused enormous damage to property. Researchers there have long studied animals in hopes of discovering what they hear or feel before the Earth shakes can be used as a prediction tool. In September 2003, a medical doctor in Japan made headlines with a study that indicated erratic behavior in dogs, such as excessive barking or biting, could be used to forecast earthquakes. There have also been examples where authorities have forecast successfully major earthquakes, based in part on the observation of the strange antics of animals. For example, in 1975, Chinese officials ordered the evacuation of Haicheng, a city with one million people, just days before a 7.3-magnitude earthquake. Only a small portion of the population was hurt or killed.
It was later discovered though, that a rare series of small tremors, called fore-shocks, occurred before the large earthquake hit the city. It was the fore-shock sequence that gave Chinese officials the solid prediction, but still, the Chinese have continued to look at animal behavior as an aid to earthquake prediction.
Another example is the giant waves that slammed into Sri Lanka and India coastlines. Wild and domestic animals seemed to have known what was about to happen and fled to safety. According to eyewitness accounts, the following events happened:
Elephants screamed and ran for higher ground. Dogs refused to go outdoors. Flamingos abandoned their low-lying breeding areas. Zoo animals rushed into their shelters and could not be enticed to come back out.
The massive tsunami was triggered by a magnitude 9 temblor off the coast of northern Sumatra island. The giant waves rolled through the Indian Ocean, killing more than 150,000 people in a dozen countries. But relatively few animals were reported dead, however, as the animals somehow sensed impending disaster.
In my opinion, I believe if someone really wants to know--as much as they can--around the time the end of the world would occur, they should move to a rural area, and regularly observe the daily behavior of the wildlife animals around them. Having companion, domestic animals is good too, but having been domesticated, these animals could have loss some sharpness in their senses as they aren't as much in touch with nature as their fellow wild animals are. But observe both on a regular basis, learning how to tell normal behavior from abnormal, nervous behavior from both types.
Another great help will be subscribing to reputable wildlife newsletters and checking out their websites from time-to-time. Websites like those have access to researchers all over the world who go out and study/observe animals in their natural habitat; they could be very valuable in news reporting unusual behavior in wildlife.
I agree, animals know things!
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