Saw an article stating that recent scientific research shows that dogs align themselves in a North-South direction when going poop.
That's not really the point of this post.
The article stated that one thing that skewed their observations were solar magnetic storms that affected the Earth magnetic field thus compass readings.
What? I've never heard of such a thing.
At least not to any normally measurable amount.
As much as we surveyors have dealt with compasses has anyone heard of such a thing?
Anyway the article makes fun reading.
Third Time's the Charm
Sorry, Bob. The first posting on this involved foxes. The second involved dogs. Your thread is number three about number two.
Solar storm vs compass
To your question: If you google the topic, you will find many statements that a solar storm can cause "several degrees" deflection in a magnetic compass.
The dog thing has been in the news a lot lately. I haven't done any research, but while I don't have a problem believing that some animals can detect magnetic fields, I can't see any advantage to an animal in orienting itself in a particular direction while defecating. North, south, east, west -- who gives a, well, you know...
Probably originated at Snopes
.
like john wayne
these dogs want the sun at their back during this sensitive time of vulnerability.
Which North?
Again with the magnetic north vs. grid vs. true vs. Astronomic. Which one is potty north?
Which North?
My dog's compass must be broken. Haven't seen him align to anything other than to be sure to drop a load where he knows I will be walking in a few minutes. It appears that he looks for that "special place" that smells right. Maybe dogs can smell magnetic fields?? There goes another hundred thousand for another stupid research program!!
My next Basis of Bearing....
will be dog poop north.
Should be good as "assumed" right?
One of our dogs likes to walk around in a circle when he poops.
I heard about this study last week on the radio.
The way I heard it they studied/observed some 7000 poop sessions. Dam, and I thought I had too much time on my hands. 😀
If the right female is near, does the mutt then need to apply "d**klination".
[sarcasm]I will use this for my basis of bearing on my next $300 survey[/sarcasm]
:good: :stakeout: :good:
I'm not sure if something is wrong with my dog or the magnetic field or what, but I just took Houston outside to do her business and the nose was pointed NE and the business end was SW. This one time may have just been an outlier, so I guess more observations are in order, I guess I'll have to start paying closer attention .......
Maybe we can all add data and have Kent run a session or two of *StarNet*? :-O
Does this have anything to do with the Dog Star?
Isn't that one in the FK5 "Apparent Places of Fundamental Stars?"
bunch o' crap...literally..
In my career as a dog-lover I've owned probably 40 or 50 dogs (I tried to count the ones that actually had names and lost count) and have watched almost everyone one of them 'do they binness' their entire lives. Trust me, north means nothing when figgerin' out where and how to drop a steamer.
Things that do affect their orientation:
Other dogs
Other animals
People
Wind & Weather
Where they squatted last time
Urgency
I guess if I had my compass app on my phone in my hand and stood north of my dog while he squeezed one out...he'd probably point north just to keep an eye on me.
BTW - I always face west....
Does this have anything to do with the Dog Star?
[sarcasm]I wouldn't take it so Sirius.[/sarcasm]
> Saw an article stating that recent scientific research shows that dogs align themselves in a North-South direction when going poop.
Okay, this is disturbing, ever since I read this post when my brain is idle I find myself thinking back over my lifetime to every time I saw a dog go poop and trying to recollect which direction he was facing.
Just goes to prove that an idle mind is a terrible thing, or something like that.
Did this require an OPUS solution?
?