I'm no expert, but I've got some experience being around tornadoes.

Since 1998, three have left a path of destruction within 3.5 miles of my house. The worst was an F-5 in '98. Then in April of last year, the F-4 that hit Tuscaloosa came thru Concord. In January of this year, an F-3 tracked from across the Warrior River to between Rock Creek and Alliance.

I was with Skywarn in '98, and was stormspotting a couple of miles from home. Just before the storm hit, I counted 6 or 8 snakes crossing the rural road I was on as I switched locations to get a better view. Later, someone connected with the University of Alabama heard about my experience and asked me to send him a written account of seeing all those snakes before the storm hit to include in a study they were conducting. He felt like the odd behavior of the snakes might have been connected to the unusual behavior others had observed in animals prior to earthquakes.

After the F-5 destroyed much of our community, there were several stray dogs that showed up at our house that was damaged, but not destroyed. I can't remember anyone telling us about losing their pets in the storm. Within a few days, all the dogs had left. I assume they found their ways back home, or where home had been.

My wife and neighbors were in our basement with several children taking cover from the storm as it passed. My wife could feel the concrete floor of our basement vibrating as the edge of the storm passed within 1/8 mile. Our house was damaged by the winds being sucked into the storm, and by the debris from our neighbor's homes that were being destroyed.

The F-5 was just less than 1/2 mile wide, which is large for a tornado. If you think about it, wildlife may have instincts that we are unaware of that help them know to flee from the path of a tornado, or the sub-sonic sounds or vibrations as it approaches may be detected by their senses that are different from ours. A sudden drop in barametric pressure might be the key. A 1/4 to 1/2 mile isn't far to go to get out of the way for most wildlife.

On another note, I found a dead 6 pt. buck under a polular tree that had been struck by lightning during the summer a few years ago. There was a circle of dead vegetation about 12 feet in diameter around the tree, and the dead deer was laying within that area near the tree.