WEBVTT - How Do Animals Survive Big Storms?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogle bomb here. When Hurricane Florence hit the East

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<v Speaker 1>coast of the United States in September eighteen, it caused

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<v Speaker 1>great damage to life and livelihood in North Carolina. Flooding

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<v Speaker 1>killed many farm animals estimates range in the millions, but

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<v Speaker 1>not all animals in the area were lost to the storm.

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<v Speaker 1>For almost five centuries, herds of feral horses have lived

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<v Speaker 1>on the tar Heel States Barrier Islands, thought to be

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<v Speaker 1>descended from mustangs brought over by Spanish explorers. These outer

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<v Speaker 1>Banks equines are beloved by the community and enjoy government protections,

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<v Speaker 1>and it turns out they're also quite storm savvy. Census

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<v Speaker 1>has taken after Hurricane Florence showed that while some individuals

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<v Speaker 1>remain unaccounted for, a large majority of these horses did

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<v Speaker 1>weather the storm. Why did the Barrier Island Why did

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<v Speaker 1>these Barrier Islands horses survive Florence when so many farm

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<v Speaker 1>animals perished, And how to other animal species normally react

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<v Speaker 1>to hurricanes. More than one hundred of North Carolina's free

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<v Speaker 1>roaming beach horses live on Cape Lookout National Seashore, A

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<v Speaker 1>preserve encompassing three hundred different barrier islands. Florence was by

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<v Speaker 1>no means their first rodeo when it comes to major hurricanes.

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<v Speaker 1>As park biologists Sue Stuska reminded the Associated Press, the

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<v Speaker 1>horses have been riding out tempests for hundreds of years,

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<v Speaker 1>Well attuned two changes in the weather. They instinctively seek

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<v Speaker 1>out high ground during floods and take refuge in thickly

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<v Speaker 1>vegetated areas once the winds get violent. Deaths can occur

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<v Speaker 1>during some strong storms, but the wild herds of the

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<v Speaker 1>outer Banks enjoy a high overall survival rate. Unfortunately, many

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<v Speaker 1>animal populations cannot make the same claim. Hurricanes and the

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<v Speaker 1>floods they produce are notoriously hard on coast hugging shrimp, crabs,

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<v Speaker 1>and oysters. The invertebrates have evolved to live in waters

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<v Speaker 1>with specific salinity levels. When runoff from hurricane generated floods

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<v Speaker 1>pours into bays and estuaries, the percentage of salt in

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<v Speaker 1>the water goes down. That decrease often ends up killing

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<v Speaker 1>scores of oysters, shrimp, and other sea dwelling organisms. Texas

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<v Speaker 1>fishermen witness to this problem firsthand after Hurricane Harvey did

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<v Speaker 1>a number on delicate Gulf coast ecosystems. There are, however,

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<v Speaker 1>marine creatures who proactively steer clear of hurricanes. Sharks can

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<v Speaker 1>pick up on pressure changes in the water column and

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<v Speaker 1>detect water borne vibrations using a network of canals and

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<v Speaker 1>pores embedded in their skin. This same system alerts them

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<v Speaker 1>to oncoming storms. Barometric air pressure drops shortly before hurricane

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<v Speaker 1>or tropical storm hits. Upon sensing this, young black tip sharks,

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<v Speaker 1>who normally live in shallow bays, will flee into the

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<v Speaker 1>relative safety of deep offshore waters. They then come back

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<v Speaker 1>after the tempest passes. Going deep as a fine tactic

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<v Speaker 1>for sharks, but it's not an option for swimming mammals

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<v Speaker 1>like dolphins or sea turtles, who must surface in order

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<v Speaker 1>to breathe. It's also less than ideal for the inhabitants

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<v Speaker 1>of lakes, swamps, and river systems. Alligators often drown or

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<v Speaker 1>are killed by flying debris during storm searches. To stay safe,

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<v Speaker 1>they may clamber onto driveways and backyard porches that manage

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<v Speaker 1>to remain above the water level, much to the chagrin

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<v Speaker 1>of some homeowners, above the heads of gaiters and other

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<v Speaker 1>ground dwelling creatures are boreal squirrels face their own set

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<v Speaker 1>of problems. High speed hurricane winds are liable to strip

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<v Speaker 1>trees of their nuts, imperiling the mammal's food supply. Furthermore,

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<v Speaker 1>powerful storms blow baby squirrels out of their parents tree

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<v Speaker 1>based nests. Hurricane Irene saddled wildlife rehabilitation groups with hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of orphaned newborn squirrels who had been evicted from their nests,

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<v Speaker 1>and when Hurricane Hugo leveled South Carolina forests, the natural

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<v Speaker 1>disaster almost wiped out the world's largest population of endangered

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<v Speaker 1>red cocketed woodpeckers, a species dependent on living pines. Birds

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<v Speaker 1>respond to hurricanes in lots of different ways. The white

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<v Speaker 1>threaded sparrow, for instance, keeps tabs on barometric pressure and

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<v Speaker 1>will postpone its fall or spring migration to avoid oncoming

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<v Speaker 1>storms if necessary. Many av species take on the exhausting

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<v Speaker 1>challenge of flying directly into the eye of a hurricane

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<v Speaker 1>and then keeping pace with it as the tempest gradually

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<v Speaker 1>dies down. Understandably, some birds that attempt this are overcome

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<v Speaker 1>by fatigue before the storm subsides, and living in captivity

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't necessarily safeguard beasts against the ravages of natural disasters.

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<v Speaker 1>Despite the valiant efforts of farmers across North Carolina, the

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<v Speaker 1>state lost millions of livestock animals to Hurricane Florence. Blocked roads,

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<v Speaker 1>flooded barns, power failures, and broken dams hindered rescue efforts.

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<v Speaker 1>If there's a silver lining to be found here, it's

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that certain animals have turned storms like Hurricane

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<v Speaker 1>Florence into opportunities. Consider the Eastern spade foot toad. This

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<v Speaker 1>secret of amphibian likes to breed in temporary ponds where

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<v Speaker 1>fish and other aquatic predators can't easily catch it. Such

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<v Speaker 1>short lived bodies of water become common after heavy rains.

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<v Speaker 1>For that very reason, the toads reproduce like crazy in

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<v Speaker 1>the wake of hurricanes at a time when amphibian population

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<v Speaker 1>sans are declining all over the world. That's an encouraging

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<v Speaker 1>thing to see. Also, hurricanes may be forcing reptiles to

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<v Speaker 1>get a grip. Literally animals are a group of New

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<v Speaker 1>World lizards who climb walls with adhesive TOPADSEN study argued

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<v Speaker 1>that one species might be evolving shorter hind legs and

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<v Speaker 1>longer topads. This body plan could make it easier for

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<v Speaker 1>the lizards to cling onto tree limbs while hurricane force

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<v Speaker 1>winds are blowing. Today's episode was written by Mark Fancini

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and

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<v Speaker 1>lots of other weathered topics, visit our home planet, hows

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<v Speaker 1>to works dot com.