Posted on 06/11/2009 11:41:04 AM PDT by JoeProBono
To aesthetes, high-voltage power lines are a blight on the rural landscape. But zoologists at the University of Duisburg–Essen in Germany welcome them as a tool for testing the power of large ruminants to perceive Earth's magnetic field. Last year, a team led by Hynek Burda and Sabine Begall discovered that free-ranging cattle and deer tend to align their bodies in a north–south direction.
The animals sure seemed to be responding to the geomagnetic field. If so, the zoologists reasoned, they should lose their orientation when they graze or rest near power lines, because the current passing in the lines distorts Earth's magnetic field. If not, and the animals are reacting instead to the sun or some other cue, power lines should have no effect. By observing wild roe deer and studying aerial images from Google Earth of cattle in European fields, Burda, Begall and three colleagues confirmed their hypothesis. In general, the animals faced every which way near the lines. (East–west power lines were an intriguing exception; cattle tended to align with them, for reasons still unclear.)
What's more, cattle gradually regained their north–south body orientation the farther they moved away from the lines. The study is the first strong demonstration of magnetic alignment in mammals other than rodents or bats. An internal compass could well be handy equipment in the roaming lifestyle of grazing animals.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
well judging from all of the carcesses on I 79 and 80 in Western PA I’d say that interstate highways are also disorienting.
This was discussed here a while back.
Most likely they aligned themselves with the wind. Rumps to the wind on cold days.
HAha, the AC power lines are degaussing them!
My great-uncle, who was a dairy farmer for 60 years, told me that cows always gave more milk when their stalls were aligned North-South.
It's not like they have anywhere they need to be.
Disorienting? Hardly. Little bastards seem to hang out there by the hundreds around my area.
Cows facing same direction ping!
This would be like trying to navigate using only lines of longitude. You would have no idea where you were in latitude. Not a very good nav system.
Deer and cattle go north south and sheep in circles.
Yep Good hunting lane. Lots of tree stands up by power lines.
I guess hiring them as power company employees was a mistake.
Thanks so much for the ping! Very interesting.
Here’s one of the comments I agree with— below the article:
Posted by webpa:
[[ I am skeptical, and not speculating. Having grown up on a farm with cattle, horses, sheep, and goats, I’ve had occasion to closely watch grazing habits for hours a day, and days on end over all seasons. My analysis is they tend to graze in such a way as to keep the sun and wind at their backs...sun most importantly. This to more clearly see what they are eating...and most do look very closely at their fodder (even sheep). Upon reaching the Northern end of their range (Northern hemisphere, obviously), the herd turns and grazes (or simply walks) rapidly to the Southern end (more or less), then repeats. My family property has a 80KV power transmission line running through one corner; I’ve never seen any change of grazing behavior under or near the line.
I’d seriously doubt any of the “researchers” cited have ever spent a day in the countryside. Not to diminish the value of Google Earth...but how may “community” posts have you seen attributing preposterous attributes or motives to perfectly natural structures? I’ve seen many; this may be another. ]]
I guess hiring them as power company employees was a missed steak.
So am I.
:’D
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