How a solar eclipse can affect animals
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.
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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.
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