AKRON, Ohio — With the solar eclipse just a week and a half away, many are asking what to do with their pets, and the answer isn’t to get them glasses. Instead, vets say to keep an eye on them. They may act a little weird, but for the most part, they should be fine.
Akron Zoo is already buzzing ahead of April 8 with multiple events planned.
“We're just very excited about our events, our eclipse day is sold out,” said Carrie Basset, the education mission manager at Akron Zoo.
One of those events includes using the eclipse for an animal experiment.
“So, one of the citizen science projects we're doing is called the clip soundscapes, and it's sponsored by NASA, but it is a study on what animals do during the eclipse,” said Basset.
Learn more about Akron Zoo's eclipse event and the experiments they'll be conducting:
But there's one answer everyone’s looking for: whether the animals will be safe, and the answer is yes.
Dr. Kerrian Hurst, the Associate Veterinarian at Akron Zoo, expects some species, including owls, flamingos and cats, to act out of the ordinary during totality.
“The daytime animals will sometimes go into their nighttime routines. A lot of the times, animals that are making noise normally during the day will go quiet,” said Hurst.
But Hurst does not expect any behavior to be a point of concern. Just in case, they will be monitoring each creature, ready to take them inside if needed.
“I think that there have been reports of flamingos getting anxious. So they may be ones that we keep a closer eye on. Basically, any animal where, if they were to have anxiety, they could act out in a way that could potentially hurt them,” said Hurst.
Dr. Ethan Horst at Turkeyfoot Family Pet Center said the majority of house pets will be okay, unless they are anxious.
“I think most animals are smart enough not to look at the sun regardless of what it's doing,” Horst continued. “If you know that your pet is one that is more anxious and more likely to respond differently to if things aren't their normal routine, that's probably what I'd be a little bit more concerned about.”
And if so, maybe keep them in the house, adding that traffic could also be a major concern.
“Increased traffic that might be happening with people trying to get to the eclipse, or people still driving while trying to look at the eclipse. I think I'd be more worried about traffic concerns in terms of animal safety than the eclipse itself,” said Horst.
He's reminding everyone that although it’s a big event for many of us, for our furry friends, it’s just Monday.
“We hope that by the time they even realize something is different, hopefully they will be kind of getting back to normal,” said Hurst.
