Fear ye not, stargazer. That solar eclipse doesn’t mean that you’re going to die, that some higher force is about to smite you, or that demons are lurking in the coal shed. No, it means the Moon has passed in front of the Sun and blocked it out. At worst, it will be a bit colder and dark for a few minutes.
But there are some unexpected consequences of a solar eclipse that you might not be aware of.1. ANIMALS ACT STRANGELY.
Animals rely on a day/night cycle in order to function correctly, and the sudden darkness can trick animals into switching their behavior to nighttime mode. Nocturnal animals such as crickets start chirping, mosquitoes come out to feed, and predators such as owls wake up and venture out of the nest. Other birds, such as geese, instinctively return to roost when the eclipse starts, only to pull a U-turn when it ends. Cicadas, normally very loud creatures, stop singing to conserve energy.
Other animals just freak out. Bees markedly increase activity. Squirrels too fear for food, and run around far more than usual. But, feel sorry for hippos. They get scared and hide underwater until it ends.
2. YOU COULD BE SENTENCED TO DEATH (4000 YEARS AGO).
Eclipses were historically considered ill omens by many cultures, but few considered them so portentous as the ancient Chinese. Approximately 4000 years ago, two astronomers called Hsi and Ho were tasked with predicting solar eclipses in an effort to stay ahead of ill fortune. However, their solitude soon begat drunkenness, and they not only failed to predict an eclipse which occurred,…
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