The keen migratory instincts of cows.

It seems like this story hit everywhere at once, but it’s still marvelous. Here’s the BBC version of how cows always face north:

Images from Google Earth have confirmed that cattle tend to align their bodies in a north-south direction.

Wild deer also display this behaviour – a phenomenon that has apparently gone unnoticed by herdsmen and hunters for thousands of years.

In the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences, scientists say the Earth’s magnetic fields may influence the behaviour of these animals.

I’m sure I read about this in some scouting guide or survival manual years ago, but I can’t think of when or where.

Like living, bovine iron filings, grazing across a gigantic magnetic field.

Tags: biology, electromagnetism, zoology