We all know that cows are skilled weather forecasters -- they lie down when it's about to rain and huddle together when snow is on its way. But German scientists have now found out that they also have a built-in compass, aligning them with the earth's magnetic field.

Using Google Earth images, Sabine Begall and her team studied over 8,000 cattle in some 300 pastures around the world, combining the satellite data with field observations.

When grazing or resting, they established, cows tended to face either north or south.

The next question was: Why?

No cock-and-bull story

Farmers have long known that cattle stand perpendicular to the sun to heat up their bodies on cold, sunny days, and stand parallel to the wind during winter days with particularly strong winds.

But so far, there has been no explanation for the common alignment of cattle during days with optimal weather, the scientists said.

Variations in wind direction and sunlight in the areas where the beasts were found meant that the scientists could rule out those factors as being responsible for the direction

"We conclude that the magnetic field is the only common and most likely factor responsible for the observed alignment," the scientists wrote in an article published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

Scientists have never established whether or not humans have a similar magnetic sense. It's a point that can no doubt be argued until the cows come home……