It’s Raining Fish and Birds

Have you ever been outside and got caught in one of those monsoon-like downpours Louisiana is famous for? Probably so, but have you ever seen it literally rain “cats and dogs?”

Since ancient times, people have reported strange things falling from the sky. The list includes rocks, fish, frogs, worms, lizards, birds, turtles, snakes, chunks of meat, and blood. And don’t think it’s something that only happens in faraway, exotic places. There have been several documented cases in Louisiana where it rained birds, fish, and even worms.

In December 1896, according to the Mexico Weekly Ledger (Mexico, Mo.), the people of Baton Rouge awoke to a clear sky and prepared for a normal autumn day. They did, that is, until a deluge of dead birds fell “out of the blue.” Ducks, catbirds, woodpeckers, and other assorted feathered creatures crashed to the streets in heaps. Most of the carcasses were readily identifiable, but some had strange plumage and others resembled canaries. So many birds plopped down that contemporary accounts claimed they “cluttered the streets of the city.”

One person declared, “Some idea of the extent of the shower may be gathered from the estimate that out on National Avenue alone the children of the neighborhood collected as many as 200 birds.”

A similar incident occurred in Winnfield, Louisiana, on April 26, 1930. The Winn Parish Enterprise (Winnfield, La.) reported residents hearing “a roaring, whirring sound” in the sky at about 11 pm when “suddenly thousands of beautifully colored birds began to fall to the ground. … For two hours birds literally rained down, carpeting the ground with a mass of color that was dazzling. …” Many were dead while others seemed so weak from hunger and exhaustion that they just fluttered on the ground, unable to fly.

It was speculated that a powerful storm had gathered them up in South and Central America and swept them north. “The colors of the winged visitors from the tropics ranged from scarlet and jet black, yellow and blue grey, to buff and brown. Their size was about the same as the English sparrow, though some were reported to be as large as a small chicken. Sea gulls were even alleged to be seen in the group.” Kids collected some for pets, and Boy Scouts gathered dead ones to earn taxidermy merit badges.

Another event, according to the San Antonio Light, occurred on the somewhat foggy morning of October 23, 1947. Customers were enjoying a quiet breakfast in a Marksville restaurant when a waitress rushed in and gasped, “You won’t believe it, but it’s raining fish outdoors!” By the time the customers ran outside, the strange rain was over, but fish covered the streets and sidewalks in an area about one thousand feet long by seventy-five feet wide. Some of the fish appeared to be frozen while others were just cold to the touch. All were said to be “fit for human consumption,” according to the Canyon (Texas) News. The fish, which ranged from two to nine inches in length, reportedly struck some people who were caught on the streets.

Several newspapers across the nation carried stories of the strange rain. The Union Bulletin of Walla Walla, Washington, reported that a Louisiana wildlife official confirmed all of the fish were native to local waters. The Logansport (Indiana) Press wrote, “There was a rather surprising variety—hickory shad, large-mouth black bass, goggle-eye, two kinds of sunfish, and several kinds of minnows.”

If the Marksville story sounds a bit “fishy,” consider what happened in Shreveport on July 12, 1961. According to the San Antonio Light, some carpenters were roofing a house when they were suddenly pelted by green peaches that appeared to fall from a dark cloud that passed overhead. About the size of golf balls, the peaches drove the roofers to cover.

And then there is the bizarre story covered by Lake Charles television station KPLC in 2007. On July 11, Jennings Police Department employee Eleanor Beal was crossing a street when large clumps of worms began raining down from the sky. Beal reported, “All of a sudden, things started falling from the sky. … When I saw that they were crawling, I said ‘It’s worms! Get out of the way!’ I ran as fast as I could thinking I could get to shelter.” At the time there was not a cloud in the sky, but a water spout had been spotted shortly before about seven miles away. It was assumed that the water spout was somehow associated with the wormy rain, but no one has ever satisfactorily explained these odd events.