Chances are you would be aligned north to south according to science reports from this week. Nell Greenfieldboyce from NPR reported, "A new study suggests that cows sense the Earth's magnetic field and use it to line up their bodies so they face either north or south when grazing or resting.
The discovery was made by a team led by Hynek Burda of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. "I think the really amazing thing is that hunters and herdsmen and farmers didn't notice it," Burda says. Burda figured this out by looking at Google Earth shots of cattle all over the world. Geeks rule! (He started out studying the effects of the earth's magnetic field on naked mole rats. Seriously!)
Have YOU ever noticed which way cows stand to munch? Or...anything else? Since I happen to know a few cows in the neighborhood I decided to check it out. Either someone tipped off the neighborhood herd, or it's simply true! I would say at least 70% were standing on a north/south line. Amazing. Life in the countryside never ceases to amaze. Come on out to my neighborhood and check for yourself, or find your own herd.
In other news, Ma and Pa Zimmerman visited Marcum's today down in SW OKC, 119th and Penn.
They have a great selection of native type perennials like Coreopsis, Salvia, Blanketflower, Guara, Rudbeckia, Yarrow, Butterfly Weed, etc. Plus they have acres of trees and shrubs and other wonderful, cool, amazing, pretty stuff.
We brought home a lilac bush among other things. A gigantic Lilac bush was second base in our front yard in one of the houses we lived in growing up. If you made it from first base at the end of the sidewalk to the Lilac bush you were safe at second. We used to cut lilac branches from it and deliver to the old guy across the street; my sister and I and probably Patty Brock from two doors down.
One are two more photos for today.
This is in Piedmont today. The garden is in front of the Express Personnel building looking toward the Baptists. I appreciate the effort they always go to to keep their little part of the world pretty.
Have you seen any other good examples of public space gardening lately?
9 comments:
Wow. Amazing how much of the natural world we are oblivious to. Figures we'd need satellites to notice which way cows are parked.
I've heard that about cows before and sometimes check it out during my many hours of driving through the Oklahoma countryside. They never seem to be standing north or south, but maybe I'm directionally challenged. I'll have to pay more attention. Maybe it's the non-conforming 30% that throw me off.
Another thing. I planted a lilac bush in my front bed and it's not doing well at all. The "You Bet Your Garden" guy on NPR says it may partly be due to the fact I mulched with wood chips. He says those suck all the nutrients out of the soil. Have you experienced that?
I have heard that herd animals (sorry) tend to align with each other, but not with the magnetic forces of the earth. Thank you for that. I will have check it out. I wonder if they realign themselves near iron ore mines....
I left a message for you at Blotanical, too.
--Kate
Had to weigh back in on the wood-chip question: I'd be surprised if they were to blame. If they are, it's because the nitrogen in the soil is being used by the micro-organisms that break down everything, including wood. Since wood has so little nitrogen itself, the micro-organisms munching it take what they need from the soil, so there's less available for the plant. If you'd put down sawdust, nitrogen deficiency would result in nearby plants. But wood chips don't have that much surface area, so they're not usually to blame. You can test this by adding a slow-release nitrogen-rich fertilizer, but I'd look for other factors.
--Kate
...wonder if one could somehow simulate lines of magnetic flux with buried cables and lead the cows to slaughter by remote control. And maybe help lure them in with a sign advertising free pre-chewed cud and eucalyptus oil massage/cowroma therapy - dim lights, soft music... Of course that would cost a fortune in genetic re-engineering and ESL teachers. Eucalyptus oil's not cheap either. Probably not cost-effective.
Hi, I'm Shari's weird brother. :-)
I think if Cori were a cow she would somehow discover which way was north and align herself accordingly. Of course she would also spend her days trying to sort the other cows into color-appropriate groups or try to graze in straight lines (or as if the pasture were a grid). If Riley were a cow he would have heard the nursery rhyme about the cow jumping over the moon and would be making an attempt at it himself.
Another part of the story was that herds seem to be standing in completely random patterns near high voltage electrical lines.
Crazy
Those naked mole rats also apparently always create their "beds" on the south side of the nest.
I'd bet the cows also tend to point in the opposite direction of electric cattle prods. I've heard those can be painful in the dairy air.
Oops, better cut the bull and quit with the cow puns before I step in one. (Time to mooooove on before it gets udderly ridiculous.) ((Hey, don't have a cow just cause I'm milking it for all it's worth.)) OK, I'm done. Medium-well.
Ahhh.. pain meds. :-)
Just a quick note Shari. I am cleaning out my email to make sure I have everything I want to keep. Then I have to burn several DVD's to save my IPhotos, ITunes music, my school documents, and precious gradebook. What happened was during spring break I redid my computer directory and optimized my drive. No problem. However, several days later I noticed my Norton Antivirus icon was missing. What I thought would be an easy solution has turned into a bigger project, hence the additional backups. Then I get to reformat, and then restore everything, but from before the changes to the computer were made from my 2 terabyte external drive. Apple makes this so easy for users.. Sorry to get wordy on boring stuff. Will fill you in on our closing of the school year later. Is this a good spot to keep you informed? let me know by email. Steve Abele
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