Nature Has Own Weather Prophets

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 86, 13 May 1949, Page 5

Nature Has Own Weather Prophets

Country dwellers in Great Britain rely on Nature’s signs as a means of forecasting the weather, and one of their most prevalent beliefs is that a plentiful crop of autumn red berries means a severe winter. Now Mr Leonard Cooper, a Cambridge scientist, and Mr J. R. Clementson, Director of the Bureau of Scientific Research at Cambridge, are preparing to test this theory.' They want information from experts in the Home Counties on years when big crops of autumn berries were noticed and the kind of winter that followed. Some scientists regard country weather lore as misleading and have proved many old proverbs to be false.

However, there is no doubt that certain plants, and most animals, are far more sensitive to weather changes than human beings, and all countrymen know this. Cattle cluster near the hedge and bees will not leave the hive when rain is due, while dogs become restless before a storm. One naturalist relied on his pet toad, which he maintained was better than any barometer. If the toad sat on the shady sitfe of the garden it would be warm and dry; if it sat on the sunny side a spell of cold weather was expected, while if the toad took shelter beneath a window ledge it was a sure sign of rain.