Is there rain in the forecast? Check your local cows. How to read the weather the old fashioned way...

Before smartphones and Doppler radar – we humans depended a lot more on the animals to clue us in on the weather...

Here are a few tell-tale weather predictors that have been around forever:

• When a storm is approaching, birds fly lower in the sky. The drop in barometric pressure makes flying at high altitudes more difficult and it also hurts the birds’ ears.

• If you see cows lying on the grass, rain is probably on the way. When cows feel that pressure drop, they also feel the urge to lie down to preserve a dry spot in the grass.

• “Tails pointing west, weather's at its best; tails pointing east, weather is least." Animals tend to graze with their rear ends pointed toward the wind. A westerly wind usually indicates good weather, while an easterly wind can mean bad weather is on the way.

• Seeing more snakes and toads? Brace yourself for an earthquake. Animals that dwell underground often detect seismic disturbances and head for the surface. In 2009, a colony of toads mysteriously evacuated its pond before a disastrous earthquake in Italy. In China, in 1975, hibernating snakes emerged from their holes just prior to a major quake in Haicheng.