Compass Cows – Cattle Aligned with Magnetic North

Having been around cattle most of my life, I'll have to say that this whole study IMHO is quite a waste of time. Cattle are among the top five dumbest animals on the face of the planet. If you find that most of a herd of cattle are facing the same direction, just remember that you are talking about a "herd", the mentality that goes with that is- Duh...do what uuhhh...they do..uuhhh. As far as deer are concerned, they are a step below but aren't much different than cows. The two main differences being, cows don't jump and the fact that cows won't try to become your latest hood ornament. Having said that, there may be something to the theory, but it needs to be applied to other animals to have any real validity.

Good points. Cows definitely have a herd mentality - although they are somewhat trainable. A neighbor of my grandparents had a dairy herd of around 100. He trained one to come back to the barn from pasture when he called her by name - the others followed, and would go into the barn single file and stand in their stanchions until locked in place at feeding time.

Hopefully we can see some other types of animals studied in the future.

My aunt and uncle (who lived on a farm) would train the cattle to go to their personal stalls in the barn (I suppose some cows were allowed a different portion of corn and hay for each cow). All the cows had a name and were 'trained' to go into their stalls in the morning and night. If a cow wasn't in the right stall, the cow who the stall belonged to waited. Then my aunt or uncle would push the cow out of the incorrect stall.

Perhaps cows don't need high intelligence because evolutionary-wise, all they mean to us are beef and milk. People teach dogs and horses to do tricks - I don't think it is that far fetched for cows...

According to a scientific study by German and Czech researchers, the cattle seem to be able to align their bodies to Earth's magnetic field. Other researchers have found evidence that cells in birds' heads contain magnetite, an iron oxide crystal that aligns with magnetic north like a tiny compass needle. Scientists think these cells send directional information to the brain to aid in navigation.

So, why would cows in a pasture need to navigate? To skeptics it would appear that the magnetic field/cattle orientation theory needs further study. Of course some doubt might be erased when cows can fly.

Compass in cows... Why are people always looking for the most ridiculuous answers?

I'm no biologist, but could it be that animals can orientate themselves by means of that big shiny disc in the sky (the sun)? It's not because we lost the ability to orientate ourselves using the sun that animals have.

Compass in cows... Why are people always looking for the most ridiculuous answers?

I'm no biologist, but could it be that animals can orientate themselves by means of that big shiny disc in the sky (the sun)? It's not because we lost the ability to orientate ourselves using the sun that animals have.

Agreed... I'd sure like to view a few herds of cattle close to the equator to see how they orientate.

Or what about the north or south poles?(granted, they would have to be the ever elusive 'snow cow')

The question of the equator does bring up a good point, did they perform any of this testing in the southern hemisphere? Next time I go to Ecuador I'll try to keep in mind to watch for cows

I imagine they used cattle because it's an animal herd that can be found throughout the world. Apart from deer, horses, or sheep/goats, I can't think of too many other types of herd animals found globally that could be used for such a study.

Orientating based on the sun is an interesting concept. This study showed that although sandhoppers are thought to navigate using the moon, they have an internal system (something like what Skeeter pointed out with birds) that allows them to navigate on moonless nights.

Actually, many predators do stalk from the north or, to be more precise, from the opposite direction of the prevailing winds as they use the smell of the herd as guidance. Thus, it makes sense for the herd to be looking in that direction most of the time.

Good point. Predators (including smarter humans) always consider the wind to conceal their scent from their prey. Although I did read an article about lions only worrying about the wind about 50% of the time. Maybe they're just really hungry?

However, on windless days or days when the wind is not coming from the southern half of the sphere, a predator may not wish to take the time to circle a herd to come from the north. Also, in the winter months were I live, most of our "weather" comes from the west and north - so predators would need to approach from the east or south. So it's a geographical variable, too.

GA to you, unfortunately you did not reply with you account name (supposing you have one).

I was rather thinking that those cows like their butts being orientated to the south (or generally, the equator) so while lying down, they get the sun on their entire body throughout the day. Whether or not enlightenment or heating from behind is pleasant for those animals, I don't know.

Your predator-theory however makes a lot more sense. But in Europe most winds come from the south-west. So then the cows ought to be looking to the north-east, no due north.

Man, am I really discussing cows here?!? I'd better get back to work...

I wonder what goats, sheep, elk, bison, elephants, zebras, antelope of various sorts, and other herding animals do? And how about solitary beasts? Surely there's nothing about herding that would influence selection for magnetic detection? This deserves a bit more research before any conclusions should be drawn. (OBTW, I AM a biologist...)

It is interesting - and it would be interesting to see further studies come from it.

On a side note, when I visited Yellowstone National Park earlier this summer, the rangers told me that bison are not actually herd animals - they only group together during rutting season. They are typically solitary animals other than that time of year. I'll have a blog entry about this in a few weeks - complete with a bison "herd" photo as they were all grouped together!

I've been around cows all my life. This is the biggest bunch of bovine manure that I have heard of. They will face the direction that makes it easier for them to eat, period. Around here that's uphill, usually.

I've known people, myself included, whose orientation is magnetic north. As one who lives in the upper northern hemisphere I discovered this becomes lost when approaching the equatorial latitudes. At that point it is the sun and time of day that re-orients me.

This is interesting. Whenever I'm traveling I usually have to play navigator since I have the best sense of direction and map reading skills. I didn't think about the equator - but when I was in the Caribbean I was too busy being a tourist to think about sense of direction I suppose.

Also, I have always, except for at one residence, had my bed aligned north-south. I wonder what that means?

You might also find it interesting that the field strength of magnetic north is diminished between two large bodies of water...eg...the southern landmass between Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.

That is an interesting fact. I wonder if the study took ideas like these into account? I didn't encounter such information in my research.

Geology might account for some of the anomalies. Water has a tendency to orient a geomagnetic field. Between two large bodies of water the 'field' becomes static.

Navigators often run into areas of this nature and compensate by using astronomic north.

I never really noticed it, but I do have a pretty good sense of direction - usually. Perhaps magnetic anomalies would account for the places where I have not found it so easy to find myself? Although I usually find myself right where I left me... But seriously, I may be cross-oriented to the magnetic field, beause I can find east-west right off almost anywhere, including at night or on cloudy days. Then north-south is simple extrapolation.