Animals in Weather Folklore

Image credit:   Ashaneen at Pixabay.com

This article is a brief presentation of selected weather lore using the following six sayings about animals and the weather as examples:

• Mare's Tales and Mackerel Scales Make lofty ships carry low sails
• Bees Won't Swarm Before a Storm
• In a Green Sky, the Cows Will Fly
• When ladybugs swarm, Expect a day that’s warm
• Sea Gull, Sea Gull, Sit on the Sand; It's never good weather while you're on the land
• If a cat washes her face over her ear, 'Tis a sign the weather will be fine and clear

photo:  my own

While it seems to speak of horses and fish, this weather proverb is really about clouds.

As I was writing this article, I decided to step outside for a breath of fresh air.  And guess what I saw?  Here's the photo. Do you see mare's tails and mackerel scales?  Maybe. It's close, and quite a coincidence, don't you think?

Mare's tails refers to a particular type of cirrus clouds - cirrus uncinus - which some people think look like horse tails.

The meaning of mackerel scales is actually  a "mackerel sky" or "buttermilk sky," which displays high level altocumulus clouds.

When the two types of clouds are present, a storm is possible, so they do, indeed, make sailors think of lowering their sails.  Why is that?

Cirrus clouds often form in the outflow of cumulonimbus, or storm clouds, and can be seen before the arrival of the storm clouds.  So, yes, those mare's tails could foretell storm.

Auto cumulus clouds are a mark of instability and moisture.  If warmer, moist air from the lower level meet this instability, thunderstorms can result.  

Sometimes that storm is brief, like the one that came soon after I snapped that sky picture.  That  seemed to bear out another saying about alto cumulus clouds:

" Mackerel sky, mackerel sky.

Never long wet and never long dry. " 

One of those old sayings is, "Bees will not swarm before a storm."

Do bees have a magical ability to sense a coming storm, and make a community decision to hightail it to the hive? 

Probably not.

But, it IS true that bees DO stay in their hive when the wind speed is above 10 to 15 mph or when the mercury dips into the mid 50's.  And, since it often turns cooler and breezy just before a storm hits, there is an apparent correlation.

 Image: European honey bee, PD

Birds of all types tend to roost, rather than fly high, when weather is about to turn bad. Long ago, coastal residents would expect a storm coming in from the sea when sea gulls would begin going inland.

A related saying about birds and the weather goes like this:

When birds fly low, Expect a blow

Watch the birds, or watch your barometer.  Barometric pressure drops before and is lower during storms, and the air becomes less dense.  It's more difficult for birds to fly high during periods of low pressure.  

Image credit:  Pixabay.com