IT’S RAINING FROGS AND FISH A plague of frogs startled the diners in this print In olden times people believed that the frogs came from supernatural causes 5
five centimeters in length were distributed all over the southern part of the city A shower of frogs was reported in a 1939 issue of the English journal Meteorological Magazine Mr E Ettles superintendent of the municipal swimming pool stated that about 4 30 p m he was caught in a heavy shower of rain and while hurrying to shelter heard behind him a sound as of the falling of lumps of mud Turning he was amazed to see hundreds of tiny frogs falling on the concrete path around the bath Later many more were found to have fallen on the grass nearby Even turtles seem to have fallen from the sky Here is a report from a 1930 issue of Nature magazine During a severe hailstorm in Vicksburg U S A a gopher turtle 6 inches by 8 inches fifteen centimeters by twenty centimeters and entirely encased in ice fell with the hail In 1949 a long article appeared in the magazine Science The author A D Bajkov was a biologist working for the Department of Wild Life and Fisheries Here is part of his eyewitness report of what happened in Marksville Louisiana In the morning of October 23 1947 between seven and eight o’clock fish ranging from two to nine inches five to twenty three centimeters in length fell on the streets and in the yards I was in the restaurant with my wife having breakfast when the waitress informed us that fish were falling from the sky We went immediately to collect some of the fish The director of the bank said that he had discovered that fish had fallen by hundreds in his yard and in the adjacent yard The 6 STRANGE MYSTERIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
IT’S RAINING FROGS AND FISH cashier of the bank and two merchants were struck by falling fish as they walked toward their places of business about 7 45 a m There were spots on Main Street averaging one fish per square yard square meter Automobiles and trucks were running over them Fish also fell on the roofs of houses Bajkov goes on to identify the fish as bass sunfish minnows and shad These were all freshwater fish found in local waters The fish that fell that day in Louisiana were absolutely fresh and fit to be eaten although Bajkov doesn’t say whether he ate any of the fish or how they tasted As recently as February 1994 thousands of small fish were found in the Australian desert flapping about in parking lots and on roads The fish were found just after a rainstorm A few days later thousands more fish this time slightly larger were found in puddles after five inches thirteen centimeters of overnight rain From 1988 to 1994 there have been three fish falls in this area Looking at these reports it seems clear that at least some actually happened If these reports are true then what possible explanations could they have In the stories of worms caterpillars or insects found on snow or the surface of the ground heavy rains or melting snows are often mentioned Perhaps the soil became waterlogged and the worms or insects were driven to the surface from their underground homes In most of the other animal showers windstorms or tornadoes probably lifted the animals into the air and then dropped them 7
some distance away For example tornadoes are known to have lifted houses cars and even a train locomotive It is not surprising that a tornado would also have the force to lift fish frogs or even a turtle However there are still some strange things that cannot be explained First many of the animal showers report only one kind of animal falling Why should a whirlwind select only frogs one day and not a combination of animals fish frogs turtles Second all the animals that fall are often about the same size Shouldn’t a whirlwind pick up animals of different sizes Third the animals often fall without any plants or sand along with them Shouldn’t a whirlwind pick up some of the material surrounding an animal While we may not know all the answers to the mysteries of falling animals this much is sure The next time someone says that it is raining frogs and fish you better go out and have a look He or she may be right 8 STRANGE MYSTERIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
