Cattle shown to align north-south

(From the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7575459.stm)

Have you ever noticed that herds of grazing animals all face the same way?

Wild deer also display this behaviour - a phenomenon that has apparently gone unnoticed by herdsmen and hunters for thousands of years.

In the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences, scientists say the Earth's magnetic fields may influence the behaviour of these animals.

Dr Sabine Begall, from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, has mainly studied the magnetic sense of mole rats - African animals that live in underground tunnels.

"We were wondering if larger animals also have this magnetic sense," she told BBC News.

However, (and this is a genuine quote):
"The scientists were unable to distinguish between the head and rear of the cattle..."

...even I know an arse from an elbow - and these guys get paid for it!