Cow and Cat ‘Did You Knows’

If you're ever lost in a pasture, just follow the cows home.  Scientists have discovered that cattle have a sort of "built in compass" aligning them with the Earth's magnetic field.

By using the Internet mapping service Google Earth, researchers at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, looked at thousands of aerial and satellite photos of cows.

They compared cattle in Britain, Ireland, India and the U.S. with a heard of 3,000 deer in the Czech Republic.

Experts quickly noticed that the deer tended to face north when resting or grazing, and the images of the cows showed the same behavior.

Another interesting animal study involves cats.  Cats are either right or left handed, just like humans.  Researchers previously thought only chimps and horses had a tendency one way or the other.

Lead researcher Deborah Wells,

"Our results suggest that there are two distinct populations of paw preference in the cat that cluster very strongly around the animal's sex."

In one test, a piece of tuna was placed in a jar too small for their heads.  All 21 toms used their left paws to retrieve the treat, while 20 out of the 21 female felines used their right paw.

Researchers believe a high level of the male hormone testosterone is the determining factor behind left or right handedness in both cats and humans.