Miya fully aligned. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times
Did you ever wonder why your beloved pooch takes soooo long to choose exactly the right spot to poop? Well, wonder no longer! This just out from the Science section of the LA Times: Dogs align themselves with the Earth's magnetic field when they poop, preferring the north-south axis. And most female dogs replicate this behavior when urinating, too. But for some reason having to do with lifting that leg, male dogs are not as regular with the north-south position when peeing. Hmmm.
By the way, the ability of living creatures to sense the Earth's magnetic field is called "magnetoreception" and humans have known for quite awhile that birds, bees and certain types of mammals, like foxes, sense this magnetic field and use it to navigate and hunt, among other instinctual behaviors. But it took a team of biologists from Germany to demonstrate that dogs utilize this sense, too. And no, they haven't figured out why dogs seem to prefer that North-South alignment.
We're going to test this scientific evidence today with Parental Unit's keen sense of direction and our smart phone, and we'll let you know if I follow the crowd, so to speak, when pooping. We'd love to hear about your dog's "alignment", too!
Did you ever wonder why your beloved pooch takes soooo long to choose exactly the right spot to poop? Well, wonder no longer! This just out from the Science section of the LA Times: Dogs align themselves with the Earth's magnetic field when they poop, preferring the north-south axis. And most female dogs replicate this behavior when urinating, too. But for some reason having to do with lifting that leg, male dogs are not as regular with the north-south position when peeing. Hmmm.
By the way, the ability of living creatures to sense the Earth's magnetic field is called "magnetoreception" and humans have known for quite awhile that birds, bees and certain types of mammals, like foxes, sense this magnetic field and use it to navigate and hunt, among other instinctual behaviors. But it took a team of biologists from Germany to demonstrate that dogs utilize this sense, too. And no, they haven't figured out why dogs seem to prefer that North-South alignment.
We're going to test this scientific evidence today with Parental Unit's keen sense of direction and our smart phone, and we'll let you know if I follow the crowd, so to speak, when pooping. We'd love to hear about your dog's "alignment", too!
3 comments:
Are you ready fur the Snow and BIG CHILL????
We heard about the pooping by the compass... and MOM has been watching US... hehehhehe SHE says if we are out in the Free RANGE YARD... WE Poop N/S butt NOT so much when we have to do it in our Safe Fenced Area. Just sayin.. or Poopin.. BaaaaaWaaaah Stay WARM...
We also read about this.....totally useless research....could of spent the time better doing research on doggie cancer
We could not agree more...useless, but we found it funny. Have a serene Sunday and get some big easy on today.
Best wishes Molly
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