Cows know how to point themselves north, researchers say

by Rob Peters | August 25, 2008 at 03:54 pm

1329 views | 4 Recommendations | 36 comments

Scientists don't seem to know why exactly, but cows may have an internal compass similar to that of honeybees. A team of German and Czech researchers were startled to make the discovery, the first of its kind among large animals.

One tentative explanation given is that cows may align themselves with the Earth's magnetic field to stay cool, but I'm not sure why that would cool them off exactly.

In any case, the lesson to be learned here is don't mock cows. They may be your only hope if you're ever lost.

WASHINGTON - Talk about animal magnetism, cows seem to have a built-in compass. No bull: Somehow, cattle seem to know how to find north and south, say researchers who studied satellite photos of thousands of cows around the world.

Most cattle that were grazing or resting tended to align their bodies in a north-south direction, a team of German and Czech researchers reports in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

And the finding held true regardless of what continent the cattle were on, according to the study led by Hynek Burda and Sabine Begall of the faculty of biology at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany.

Two-thirds is close to what the researchers found in their look at 8,510 cattle in 308 pastures. In the study, 60 percent to 70 percent of cattle were oriented north-south, which Begall termed a "highly significant deviation from random distribution."

Hinchley stressed that one factor that must be considered is cow comfort.

"They don't like to get hot. Their body temperature is 102, and they are wearing black leather jackets, literally! If turning north-south would keep them cooler, they would stand that way."

With satellite images they could tell the north-south orientation of the animals, but not whether an individual cow was facing north or south. You have to get closer to tell which end is which.

Now the researchers are moving on to study sheep, goats, horses, wild boar and some further deer species, Begall added.

The current study said red and roe deer also were found to orient in a north-south direction when grazing and resting, but unlike the worldwide cattle study, the deer portion was limited to the Czech Republic.

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Emilio Lizardo

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:00 on August 26th, 2008

Rob Peters, I like this story. It's good stuff.

It seems cows aren't the only ones that do it. Researchers have found that many, if not all birds, any many other types of animals as well have actual, physical magnets built into their heads and wired up somehow to their brains. Beyond that newer research indicates there is a secondary visual system involved as well, at least in some birds ...

Birds Navigate Using Magnetic Compass-Vision
Combined with a GPS beak, it leads them on marathon migrations.

For decades, scientists have known that migratory birds use Earth’s geomagnetic field—along with light, stars, and other cues—to guide them on remarkably long journeys. But it is unclear just how birds sense this relatively weak field and use it for navigation.

Now German researchers have provided new evidence supporting the notion that migratory birds actually see magnetic fields. Postdoctoral fellow Dominik Heyers and his colleagues peered into the brains of garden warblers, which travel seasonally between northern Europe and southern Africa, and uncovered a link between neurons in the eye and a region of the brain thought to be involved in migration.

Navigating With A Built-In Compass
Researchers are finding surprises in the ways animals navigate using the Earth's magnetic fields

Recent research suggests that cells in the bird's head contain magnetite, an iron oxide crystal that aligns with magnetic north like a tiny compass needle. Scientists think these cells may serve as receptors that send directional information to the brain. Many other animals apparently also have such cells: Magnetite has been found in the heads of migratory fish, sea turtles and humpback whales. Of all the wildlife navigators, birds so far are the best studied.

mikedaltonphotography.com

at 10:33 on August 26th, 2008

mikedaltonphotography.com

mikedaltonphotography.com has contributed a photo to this story.

LearnServe International

at 11:17 on August 26th, 2008

Cow photos in Monze, Zambia were taken by Gabe Singer and Gabriela Grebski on LearnServe Zambia 2008.

See the trip blog for more info.

LearnServe International has contributed a photo to this story.

sweet_Dodo

at 11:46 on August 26th, 2008

took this photo on my hiking tour through the alps near Innsbruck. Those cows are typical Tyrolean cows who spend their summer on the mountains.

sweet_Dodo has contributed a photo to this story.

cL0d

at 12:25 on August 26th, 2008

Just waiting

cL0d has contributed a photo to this story.

sandwithgal

at 12:50 on August 26th, 2008

Helton cow, Cumbria, by Heather Moooooooer

sandwithgal has contributed a photo to this story.

xopi

at 12:54 on August 26th, 2008

This picture is taked into the isle of Skye, Scotland.

xopi has contributed a photo to this story.

Church of the Black Panda

at 13:39 on August 26th, 2008

This is a cow... not entirely sure if it's pointing north or not. It is, however, definitely a cow.

www.flickr.com/churchoftheblackpanda/

Church of the Black Panda has contributed a photo to this story.

Darren Copley

at 13:46 on August 26th, 2008

This photograph was taken in the Peak District in Derbyshire, UK on a route called the Limestone Way near Monyash. (Unfortunately cannot elaborate on this particular cow's alignment though).

Photo by Darren Copley

Darren Copley has contributed a photo to this story.

carterh

at 14:03 on August 26th, 2008

Right, so that's the Pacific Ocean beyond those hills, so I can assure you this is at least "north-ish". This cow was snapped along the 101 this summer. The shock value of seeing a cow between a strip of highway and a very steep drop off into the ocean wore off eventually, but this was the first of several. Funnily enough I heard a story on the BBC just this morning on this very subject.

carterh has contributed a photo to this story.

ValeriaGentile

at 14:26 on August 26th, 2008

Cows near the mills in Zaanse Schans, Holland

ValeriaGentile has contributed a photo to this story.

JPaul23

at 15:35 on August 26th, 2008

Clarks Pathfinder Hooves.

JPaul23 has contributed a photo to this story.

musicnvrdies

at 15:43 on August 26th, 2008

Photograph was taken in North Carolina on March 23, 2008

Credit goes to Brandy Watkins
For more information, go to:
www.flickr.com/colorsfade
or
www.bellachicks.etsy.com

musicnvrdies has contributed a photo to this story.

mmbooklover

at 15:57 on August 26th, 2008

I was traveling with my daughter by car in the highlands of Scotland. I had been looking for an opportunity to snap a photo of a "heelan coos" (highland cows). And, in Sutherland County, there they were... mostly just "chilling," but certainly pointed in a most northerly direction!

mmbooklover has contributed a photo to this story.

daranee

at 16:14 on August 26th, 2008

On holiday in Montana at Glacier National Park, I noticed many cattle crossing signs. The cattle around the perimeter of the park have no boundaries and they roam freely eating fresh grass along the way. They have no difficulty crossing the highway when they need to, and so far as I can tell there appear to be no accidents involving cattle -- that is to say, I see no signs of carnage. I even spotted some wild horses who similarly were not contained by fences but were free to roam where they chose.

daranee has contributed a photo to this story.

Salmo trutta 406

at 16:14 on August 26th, 2008

This bison (cow) had her eyes on us for a long time. Had it been a big bull I would not have gotten nearly as close as I did.

Salmo trutta 406 has contributed a photo to this story.

milissas

at 16:50 on August 26th, 2008

All cows in this photo set were captured at the Hunterdon County 4H fair (08.23.08)

milissas has contributed a photo to this story.

zottffssent

at 17:27 on August 26th, 2008

I traveled to a cemetery in the ghost town of Cryer Creek, Texas where my Great-grandmother lived with her aunt and uncle in 1900 when she was 18. I was searching for ancestors in the local cemetery and the cemetery was an island in the middle of a cow pasture; this is where I captured these shots.

zottffssent has contributed a photo to this story.

tomxdeangelis

at 21:26 on August 26th, 2008

the picture i took is the Front cover of "Atom of Your Heart" record by Pink Floyd
tomxdeangelis has contributed a photo to this story.

solenostomus

at 22:32 on August 26th, 2008

Curious cows at the "Hohe Wand", Austria

solenostomus has contributed a photo to this story.

roxyhwfa

at 22:48 on August 26th, 2008

This concrete (?) cow stands alongside the gradually being restored Montgomery Canal in Wales.

roxyhwfa has contributed a photo to this story.

tsadri

at 23:15 on August 26th, 2008

This Holstein cow lives its happy life in Bretagne, France at a small farm in Plenée Jugon

More cow pictures

More pictures about the life of the French village Plenée Jugon

tsadri has contributed a photo to this story.

rolros

at 23:04 on August 26th, 2008

We have seen a cow trying to scratch there head on a bench on our last hiking trip. She really knew how to get rid of this itch!

As you can see nobody was brave enough to sit next to her.

kind regards rolros

rolros has contributed a photo to this story.

Kajia

at 23:46 on August 26th, 2008

These are very curious cows on the road to Loch Ness. Perhaps they're not used to seeing people walk past that often, but they very alertly watched me every step along the way.

Kajia has contributed a photo to this story.

lets_sing

at 02:09 on August 27th, 2008

You see them all over Schotland, but it's hard to take a pic because it's not that easy to just stop at the side of the road, that is where you see them most often. So in those two weeks I was there, I had to wait untill the last day to catch one and it was one who really liked to pose for me!

lets_sing has contributed a photo to this story.

SOLARLIFE

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 02:29 on August 27th, 2008

Rob Peters, I like this story. Some say humans should align with the magnetic north south field, with head to north, for good sleep.

duncan.mennie

at 04:07 on August 27th, 2008

Young HIghland Cattle in Applecross, Scotland.

duncan.mennie has contributed a photo to this story.

stephenbuchan

at 04:47 on August 27th, 2008

The crop by NowPublic of my cow shot for this article misses the point of the original composition! I included the rear-end of a cow on one side of the frame and the head at the other end, to add humour to an otherwise fairly ordinary cow pic.