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第20章 The Mystical “Sixth Sense”Of Animals

Wild animals seem to have escaped the Indian Ocean tsunami①, which addsweight to notions they possess a “sixth sense” for disasters.

Giant② waves along the Indian Ocean Island’s coast killed over 24,000 people, but seemingly wild beasts③ missedthe disaster, and no dead animals was found.

No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit. Perhaps animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense, so that they know when tsunami is happening.

The waves washed floodwaters up to 3 km (2 miles) inland at Yala National Park in the ravaged④ southeast, Sri Lanka’s biggest wildlife protection destrict where hundreds of wild elephants and several leopards. Waterflood made the district of southeast where Yala National Park lie scattered. There has been a lot of anecdotal⑤ evidence about dogs barking or birds migrating before volcanic eruptions or earthquakes.

Wildlife seems to be able to pick up certain phenomenon, especially birds. There are many reports of birds detecting impending disasters.

Animals certainly rely on the known senses such as smell or hearing to avoid danger such as predators⑥.

The Romans saw owls as omens⑦ of impending⑧ disaster and many ancient cultures viewed elephants as sacred animals endowed⑨ with special powers or attributes.?Maybe it is also the proof of animals’sixth sense.

① tsunamin. (源自日语)海啸,地震海啸(系海底地震或火山爆发所致)

② giantadj. 巨人般的,巨大的

③ beastn. 兽,野兽

④ ravagev. (使)荒芜,毁灭,毁坏,蹂躏,劫掠

⑤ anecdotaladj. 轶事的,趣闻的;多轶事的,含轶事的

⑥ predatorn. 食肉动物,掠夺者

⑦ omenn. 预兆,兆头

⑧ impendv. 迫近,逼近,即将发生

⑨ endowv. 赋予

动物神秘的第六感

野生动物们似乎躲过了印度洋的海啸,这证实了动物对自然灾难有“第六感”的观点。

巨浪席卷印度洋海岛沿岸,淹死了2.4万多人,但野生动物似乎都幸免于难,目前尚未发现一具动物的尸体。

没有大象丧生,甚至连野兔和兔子都活得好好的。动物们可以感觉到灾难即将来临。它们有第六感,能够知道海啸发生的时间。

海洪冲向离岸3公里(相当于2英里)远的亚拉国家公园,这里是斯里兰卡最大的野生动物保护区,生活着几百头野生大象和一些美洲豹,海啸引发的洪水使亚拉国家公园所在的东南部地区变得一片狼藉。每当火山爆发或地震发生前,动物们的行为就会发生许多异常,比如犬吠或鸟类迁徙。

野生动物似乎能够感知某些特殊现象,尤其是鸟类。很多报告显示鸟类能察觉即将来临的灾难。

一些动物确实是依靠嗅觉或听觉等人类已知的官能来躲避危险的,比如食肉动物。

罗马人把猫头鹰视为迫近凶险的征兆,很多古代文明都将大象看作拥有特殊能力或象征的“圣兽”。这可能也是动物有“第六感”的证明吧。