Dogs Poop in Line With Earth’s Magnetic Field

 

By adminamog

Posted on January 7, 2014

Dog owners might have observed a number of odd behaviors among their pets. But one thing that escaped their attention was that dogs prefer to poop along the Earth’s North – South axis line instead of the East – West axis. A research was carried out by a team of Czech and German Scientists watching 70 dogs over 1893 piles of poop in two years found that dogs are sensitive to small variations in the earth’s magnetic field. Scientists just studied how dogs poop but the fact why they poop is still under dark. Scientists compared the behavior of dogs with geomagnetic conditions at that time. The research also showed that both male and female dogs faced north or south while pooping but the same can’t be said while urinating. Only females preferred urinating in north or south direction while males didn’t show much preference in this case.

Effects of Magnetism

Earth’s magnetic field affects the behavior of many animals. There is a long and growing list of research which shows that both wild and domestic animals can sense the geomagnetic field of earth and can coordinate their behave with it. An analysis of Google earth satellite images revealed that herds of cattle present worldwide stand in north – south direction of magnetic lines of earth while grazing in fields. Different species of deer also behaved in the same manner regardless of time period or the direction of wind. A report conducted in 2013 found that pigeons are equipped with microscopic balls of iron in the inside of their ears which can be the reason of this sensitivity towards geomagnetic filed. Birds also make use of earth’s magnetic fields to migrate hundreds of miles. Same ability is found in social animals known as human beings. A protein present in the retina of human eye may help people to sense magnetic field of Earth. However, these are just theories and scientists are still finding the reason behind this behavior.

Reasons behind this Pooping Style

After conducting a number of researches on 37 different breeds, the researches came to a conclusion that dogs preferred to poop while facing north and south and avoided pooping while facing east or west. But the reason behind this unique kind of behavior is still unknown to scientists. The scientists are confused about this fact. They suggested that it can be due to Dog’s sensitivity to the magnetic field of earth or simply dogs feel more comfortable in a certain direction. That is why dogs chose north – south over east – west direction. The researchers also found that the orientation of dogs in north – south direction was less predictable when the Earth’s Magnetic field was in state of flux. Here, state of flux means the change in magnetic field of Earth during solar flares, geomagnetic storms and other events. The alignment of dogs while pooping was in north – south direction was only when the magnetic field of earth was calm. Scientists will conduct further research to understand how and why animals coordinate with the magnetic field of Earth. 

http://www.amog.com/headline/158004-dogs-poop-line-earths-magnetic-field/