Political analyst Luc Lavoie recalled on the show Le Bilan that animals had strange behaviors during the 1972 eclipse.
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“My only memory that really stuck with me was that as soon as darkness came, the animals went crazy!” he expresses on the show The Balance Sheet Thursday evening.
“They will hide, they no longer know what to do,” he continues. It’s really special.”
However, is it true that animals go “crazy” during an eclipse?
To shed light on the question, veterinarian Claudia Gilbert was invited to the show.
She first emphasizes that she has not had the experience of a total eclipse and that the information she has on this phenomenon comes “especially from people who report observations on which we can trust”.
Although these stories are “anecdotal”, the veterinarian affirms that “indeed, when something out of the ordinary happens, the animals notice it.”
However, even if some animals could begin their night routine or exhibit particular behaviors when darkness sets in, Ms. Gilbert assures that the risks for pets – whether a cat starts to stare at the sky for example – are almost zero.
- Listen to the interview with Évelyne Joubert, veterinarian on Yasmine Abdelfadel’s show via QUB :
“There are no animals that stare at the sun,” she explains. It’s just us who do that and maybe some primates in certain circumstances, but staring at the sun is not something natural.”
She says it is therefore not necessary to make your animals wear protective glasses.
“As a precaution,” the specialist still recommends keeping pets that go outside, such as cats, indoors, since this unusual event could create a feeling of anxiety in some people. ‘between them.
“Already, it’s stressful for a cat to go outside,” she explains. They are on the lookout for anything that can happen. They’re already nervous, so if it’s nighttime all of a sudden, he might show some unusual behavior.”
However, she contradicts this idea of locking animals in rooms without windows “since it could cause them more stress than the eclipse”.
However, the veterinarian does not recommend planning an outdoor activity with your pet during the eclipse.
“I wouldn’t take him to see the eclipse because he won’t have any fun. For him, it’s not a special event,” she informs.
“There are a lot of dogs who suffer from anxiety,” she continues. For these dogs, I would make sure that they notice it as little as possible.”
***Watch the full interview with veterinarian Claudia Gilbert in the main video***