From the BBC: Cattle shown to align north-south.
Have you ever noticed that herds of grazing animals all face the same way?
No, actually. They do?
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. [continue]
Well, yeah.
Cows grazing in the open can pick up bits of metal, things like staples and wire from fencing. This causes ‘hardware disease’ as the metal bits cause damage moving through a cow’s four stomachs.
The solution is the cow magnet. I’ts a rod magnet with the ends rounded so it looks like a large pill. The magnet rests at the bottom of the cow’s first stomach, or rumen, where it collects the metal bits and keeps them from moving further into the cow’s digestive system.
So, you drop a honking big magnet into a cow and then wonder why the cow aligns North – South?
Fred, this is fascinating. Thanks! I had never heard of cow magnets until I read your comment. Who knew? Well, you did, and maybe everybody but me knew as well.