Have you ever driven by a pasture and noticed that all of the cows seem to be standing facing in the same direction? New research has confirmed what scientists have long speculated about: that cattle — and other animals — have a tendency to align themselves facing south. The National Academy of Sciences has published a new report that demonstrates the innate tendency of animals to align their bodies according to the magnetic poles of the earth.
So strong is this tendency that many scientists are suggesting that animals have a type of sixth sense, or biological GPS-like navigation system. Besides cattle, wild deer have also been shown to display the same north to south directional tendencies. Herds of wild deer in various locations around the planet have been spotted in images from Google Earth, standing primarily in a north to south direction.
The magnetic poles of the earth are located near the center of the Arctic and Antarctic continents. Scientists are now trying to learn how the natural magnetic pull of the earth affects the herding habits of animals, and why they tend to heard in a southward-facing direction.
Studies have demonstrated that other animals, such as bats, use the magnetic pull of the earth to heighten their sense of direction. Certain species of migratory birds have also been proven to use this magnetic “invisible hand” to find their way.
Google Earth has been a great help to scientist studying natural behavior and migration patterns of animals. The recent study that determined that cows tend to face southward no matter where they’re located was conducted using images taken from Google Earth; more than 8500 cows were analyzed in the study, and over 300 grazing pastures around the globe.
The study indicated that cattle in both the northern and southern hemispheres tend to face north to south, while cattle near the equator tend to shift slightly toward a southwestern direction. According to scientists, this phenomenon can be explained because of the weaker pull of the Earth’s magnetic field along the equator.
The discovery that animals tend to move and stand in a direction guided by the magnetic pull of the earth naturally leads to speculation that humans might also have a built-in magnetic “compass,” which affects our movements, migratory patterns and tendencies. John Phillips, a professor of biology at Georgia Tech University, believes that this “sixth sense” is, “virtually ubiquitous in the animal kingdom.”
Other biologists and animal researchers seem to agree with Philips’ assessment. After all, it would make very little sense if every other animal on the planet was naturally affected by the magnetic poles of the earth — but not humans. Who knows? Magnetic pull could be responsible for a wide variety of human behaviors, patterns and habits.
