Those ubiquitous spies from the heavens, relentlessly staring down at us 24 hours a day by satellite--Google and Map Quest, among others--thought they'd discovered groundbreaking new scientific truth, when they observed that cattle out grazing always face north to south.
This has been repeatedly publicized by the popular media like the 7th Wonder of the World. If they only knew.
They were sure that it was the magnetism of the earth's core, or some supernatural revelation beamed directly into cow's brains that made them line up this way.
Well, cattlemen do know. More than one veteran rancher I've talked to said it's very simple. The prevailing winds blow most often from north to south. By lining up with the wind, cows keep flies off, and rain or snow pass them by. They are not fighting the wind, but using it.
A veteran, old-time pilot told me that they have always navigated their "string and baling wire" single engine plane by watching how the cows down below were lined up. and selecting their direction accordingly.
There you go. The latest high tech doesn't always expand knowledge. Sometimes, it needs to acquire some.
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