You must have often heard people saying that “it has been raining cats and dogs” to describe a heavy rainfall. Have you ever wondered by the phrase cats and dogs is used and not any other animal? The question is interesting and does make us think. Let’s go back in time in order to understand why is unique phrase is used and has been in use for so many years.

Cats and Dogs

If you feel that only cats and dogs are actually associated with rains then you are actually wrong there has been a long use of animals to describe rain all across the world. For example the first mention was in 1881 when there was a thunderstorm in England. Soon after the storm lots and lots of crabs were spotted on the Cromer Road and the fields surrounding that area.

It was not clear from where all these crabs actually came. It seemed like the crabs came from the sky with the rain. These crabs were caught and sold in the markets. There were total 10 sacks filled with the crabs and that is a huge number.

Curious stories

We will now move on to some more curious stories that are told about rains. From time to time there has been a mention of curious animals falling from the sky with the rains. Many old people believe that when creatures fall along with rains it indicates a bad omen. Like in the olden days comets and shooting stars were also considered as bad omen.

It is quite obvious that such an even was considered as a bad omen because it is definitely not natural to have creatures falling down with the rains. Fish and frogs are often reported to fall with the rains and it is a common phenomenon. Again this is also considered to be a bad omen.

The rationalists believe that there must be some other reason for sighting of so many crabs after a rain fall. There is no way possible that these creatures fell from the sky.

Some rational explanations

The rationalists believe that crabs must have escaped from the cage and they just started to move around and they had no connection with the rain. Maybe a local crab dealer was not very careful about the stock of crabs he had as a result these crabs escaped and were spotted later after the rains. As these crabs were spotted soon after the rains people started to believe that they actually fell with the rain.

Similarly there is a good possibility that a frog or a fish from the nearby lake or pond got washed away as a result people thought they fell with the rain.

Fish in rain

When talking about fish being spotted after the rains we have to mention a rainfall that happened in 1861. This was in Singapore. There was three days of heavy rain and it was followed with an earth quake. After this natural calamity was over many fishes were spotted across the city in small puddles. Soon after the rain stopped some people reported that they had seen fishes actually falling with the rain.

On the other hand some residents of the area said that the rain was so heavy that they could not see anything thus it was impossible to see fishes falling with the rain water. Many people said that these fishes could also be spotted in the courtyard of the houses with very high walls. How was this even possible if they had not fallen with the rain.

The rationalists say this is ridiculous. There were a lot of streams in the area and these fishes must have come with the stream water that was over flowing due to the heavy rains. However, a group was not convinced with the theory and they continued to feel that these fishes actually fell with the rain.

Toads and frogs

In Italy for many years there have been a lot of stories told about rainfall that brought along toads and frogs. These toads and frogs were not seen before rain and soon after the rain the areas would be infested with these creatures making people believe that they actually fell with the rains. Some people also claim that they actually saw the frogs falling with the rain.

On the other hand some said that these frogs were hibernating as soon as rains started they came out in search of food.  Frogs love rain. All the while when it is not raining they live in small holes. As soon as they get the smell and feel of rain they get excited and they come out of the holes they were living in. It is actually stupid to think that frogs fall with the rains just because you can spot them only after a heavy shower.

It is a common sense if the frogs fell from the clouds how come they are not hurt after such a great fall. It is not possible for any living creature to survive a fall from the sky. All the frogs that were spotted after the rains were physically in a good condition and were not lame or dead.

This is a proof enough that they were in the grounds and just came out after the rains. Many people have been thinking for years that these creatures that are spotted soon after the rains actually fall from the sky with the rains but that is actually not true.

Some say that the frogs that are spotted during the rains are very small in size. This is an indication that they actually fall from the sky. Many people have reported that they have actually seen frogs falling along with the rain waters and there is no denying of the fact that they actually came with the rain waters. These frogs are not similar to the bigger frogs that live in holes and come out only when the rains start.

The debate

This is a topic of debate actually. However, the experts do believe that it can be possible for frogs to fall with the rain we will explain how. It is quite possible that small frogs are picked up by the heavy winds from the ponds and lakes. These frogs are carried by these winds and sometimes they can be carried to a very long distance.

When the rain falls these frogs fall with it and makes people believe that the frogs are falling with the rains and from the clouds. It is not possible for a living creature to be born in the clouds and to fall along with the rains otherwise. This theory is again accepted by few and some feel that this is not possible at all. This theory was propounded by Charles Hay Fort.

He also explains this in details in his book named “In the book of the damned” in this book he mentions that after hurricanes occurred in Ireland the locals could spot fishes about 15 yards from the lake. He thus was of a strong opinion that wind could definitely carry these creatures from the lakes and ponds to any distance.

The stronger the wind the longer distances these creatures could cover. He explained that this was hy crabs were spotted in London in 1881 soon after the rains and later eels were spotted in Alabama in 1892. In both the cases there were water bodies close by that had crabs and eels respectively.

It is true that wind has a lot of power and there cannot be no denying of the fact. For example in 1845 there was a huge whirlwind in France that actually uprooted 180 trees in a few seconds. This wind also destroyed three mills. The planks used to construct the mills were carried away by the wind and were spotted 32 miles from the spot of the incident. If a strong wind could do this a less violent wind can easily carry frogs and other small creatures with it. We will continue our discussion on the curious stories associated with rains for our readers in our forthcoming posts