How to Avoid Bad Weather, 1660

Edward Topsell, The History of Four-Footed Beasts and Serpents (1658)

Whosoever are defended by a skin of a River Horse called Hippotamus, are never touched by the Thunder… some say that if you hold a Looking-Glass against the Cloud that hangs over you, the Hayl will pass away: also if you compass the place with the skin of an Hyæna, Crocodile, or Sea Calf, and hang the same up before the Doors of your house, for then the Hail will not fall.

Johann Jacob Wecker, Eighteen Books of the Secrets of Art & Nature

Added bonus: nothing says “welcome!” like a crocodile skin nailed to your front door.