"Why this preference for a northeasterly/southwesterly leap? Cerveny found that foxes prefer to jump that way regardless of time of day, season of year, cloud cover or wind direction, so the northeast "advantage" isn't a temporary thing. It's constant.
What's going on?
Cerveny believes that foxes have "a magnetic sense." Not only can they see, hear, touch, taste and smell like we do, they've got an extra gift. They can sense the Earth's magnetic field. There are birds, sharks, turtles and ants that can do the same thing. But the fox is the first animal we know of to use this sense to hunt."
Another theory is that dogs circle before pooping to check where the wind is coming from and poop so their butt doesn't get cold, or to keep the smell away from potential prey.
The fish and bird flock/school movements are simply amazing to witness.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
Very interesting. I've never noticed my pooch doing this, it seems that he goes every which direction. Perhaps the magnetic field does change direction, Ms. pacamom?
The field surrounding the Earth changes over time, with shifts occurring most prominently in low latitudes in the Western Hemisphere. The fast-moving magnetic patches that occur near the equator drift approximately 10 miles (20 kilometers) per year. These changes are driven by intense regions of activity in the core, the cause of which scientists have been at a loss to explain.
Scientists understand that Earth's magnetic field has flipped its polarity many times over the millennia. In other words, if you were alive about 800,000 years ago, and facing what we call north with a magnetic compass in your hand, the needle would point to 'south.' This is because a magnetic compass is calibrated based on Earth's poles. The N-S markings of a compass would be 180 degrees wrong if the polarity of today's magnetic field were reversed. Many doomsday theorists have tried to take this natural geological occurrence and suggest it could lead to Earth's destruction. But would there be any dramatic effects? The answer, from the geologic and fossil records we have from hundreds of past magnetic polarity reversals, seems to be 'no.'
