Red foxes may use Earth's magnetic field to aim their pounces

When a red fox hears a mouse under the snow, it leaps high and dives nose-first. Biologists call it "mousing."

In a 2011 study, researchers led by Jaroslav Červený recorded almost 600 mousing jumps by 84 wild foxes in the Czech Republic. The foxes strongly preferred to jump toward the north-east, about 20 degrees off magnetic north.

Those north-east pounces worked far better. About 73% ended in a catch, compared with about 18% for most other directions.

The researchers suggested foxes might use the magnetic field like a rangefinder to judge the distance to hidden prey. It's still a hypothesis, but it's a pretty great one.

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A fluffy red fox mid-leap over a snowy fence in a little village on Christmas Eve, with a wreathed lamp post glowing behind it.

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