Amazing stories about dogs finding their way home after months of being gone are common place.
And research is helping shed light on animal navigation and giving us a better understanding of how different animals are able to find their way back home.
This from puppyleaks.com.
When dogs go missing one suggestion that’s often made is to leave out a piece of clothing or bedding for them—something with a familiar smell.
Research has found that dogs rely on familiar scents to find their way back home, and those scents can lead them a long way.
A 10-mile distance isn’t that far for a dog to follow a scent as long as the wind conditions are right.
A dog that wanders out of its own immediate range might pick up the scent of, say, a familiar dog in the next circle. That might point it to a circle that contains a familiar person or tree or restaurant trash can, and so on. – The Amazing Science Behind Pets That Find Their Way Home
If you lose your dog or cat, place their bedding, your bedding, your pajamas, the dog’s
blanket, or your blanket, outside. It may bring them home. This from No Dog About It
Cats, like many other mammals, are likely relying on magnetism to find their way around.
Some studies have shown that many mammals contain iron in their ears, and that may help cue them into the magnetic direction in the ground.
One of the most remarkable animals with great navigation skills is the pigeon. It used to be believed that they found their way back home via the iron in their beak, but later studies found that the iron was related to their immune system, not navigation.
In 2013 a geologist found that pigeons are likely using low-frequency sound waves to navigate their way back home – even over hundreds of miles. And this theory also helps to explain why they occasionally get lost when there’s interruptions such as high winds or jets.
The idea is that pigeons use these low-frequency infrasound waves to generate acoustic maps of their surroundings, and that’s how they find home even when they are released miles from where they dwell. – How Homing Pigeons Find Their Way Home
Seabirds are believed to use the sun and stars as their compass since they tend to get lost when it’s overcast. Deer, cattle & voles are likely using magnetism since they seem to orient in a north-south direction.
Scientists still don’t know how dogs (especially trained search dogs) are able to hone in one scent and follow it without getting distracted. And while we believe cats are using magnetism like birds do to find their way home it’s possible they’re using mental maps.
There’s still a lot of unknowns in the world of animal navigation, and some scientists believe that evolution has given animals numerous ways to sense magnetic fields, many of which we still haven’t discovered.
What is known is that animals have the ability to navigate long distances without the use of maps, but scientists still don’t know exactly how they’re doing it.
