Saturday, June 4, 2016

What's Up With The Cows...?

Now this is interesting if you are into obscure little facts .

How in the world folks get paid for doing these studies is beyond me, but it makes for some interesting reading, that's for sure !

Cows Always Face North Or South While Eating



Most people don’t give much thought to grazing cows, but when a team of scientists went through thousands of Google Earth’s satellite images of cows, they stumbled upon a detail that we have missed for millennia: Cows will stand along the Earth’s magnetic poles—facing north and south—whenever they’re grazing or resting. The pattern remained consistent regardless of wind or other factors, and nobody’s quite sure why.

While some animals are known to contain an internal compass, this is the first time it’s been found in a large mammal. Another weird thing is that the nearer they are to the poles, the less accurate they get with the orientation. Scientists don’t know if the phenomenon is related to navigation or some miscalculated attempt at warding off predators, though it appears that it may have a purpose because of the consistency with which it was observed among cows across six continents. The phenomenon may have an effect on agricultural production, as cows made to stay in an east-west orientation must be affected in some way, though nobody can say how.

Now I have to admit that I find this stuff interesting, but in the long run...I really don't care! Makes no difference to me at all which direction the cows are facing as they eat, ya know ? However, when I found this article on Listverse, I thought it was worth sharing with you folks.

Coffee out on the patio, I think. We may have to move back inside quickly, so be ready!

6 comments:

JO said...

I agree with you about how it doesn't really matter to me either, what matters is like you said who pays for this nonsence.

Patio sounds good as long as we don't have to run to early for all that lol

Recycled Cottage & Garden said...

I don't really care which way they face either but I think this article is full of bunk. I live in a large ranching area and a few months ago when I saw this article I started paying attention when I saw cattle. Result? They face every direction no matter if there are only a couple of cows or a huge herd. Maybe the people doing the study didn't check Texas cattle.

HermitJim said...

Hey Jo...
I guess that we are missing the boat by not signing up to do some research watching cows eat and getting paid for doing it.
Thanks for dropping by today, sweetie !


Hey Lady Hawthorne...
Could be the Texas cows are just doing their own thing. After all, we here in Texas have been known for bucking the system for a long time, right ?
Many thanks for coming by this morning!

Dizzy-Dick said...

Interesting, Jim. I am going to have to take better notice of the cows in my area.

Gorges Smythe said...

I wonder if it has something to do with the migrations of common ancestors.

Hermit's Baby Sis said...

Bubba - I've noticed for years that most of the cows in a pasture (or along the way as I'm passing down the highway) all seem to face the same direction. Never noticed before if it was always east or west, but I'll start looking.
Big hugs ~