Talk about animal magnetism, scientists theorize that somehow, cattle seem to know how to find north and south, according to 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 the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 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. "The magnetic field of the Earth has to be considered as a factor," the scientists said.

This challenges scientists to find out why and how these animals align to the
magnetic field, Begall stated in an e-mail. "Of course, the question arises whether humans show also such a spontaneous behavior," she said, adding, what "consequences does it have for their health." 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.