Do Foxes Have Magnetic Senses? | The Institute for Creation Research

Do Foxes Have Magnetic Senses?

During winter, red foxes hunt snow-covered mice without even seeing their prey—but how? Certainly, hearing plays a crucial role, but researchers from the Czech Republic and Germany found that European foxes pounce on mice much more successfully when facing north, leading them to suggest a more magnetic answer. Foxes may see more than what visible light reveals.

The red fox find its prey—often buried as deep as three feet beneath the snow—not only when it faces north, but also when it faces the earth’s magnetic south pole. The fox first pauses, tilting its head to gather minute sounds and sensations. It then takes a bounding leap and plunges, paws and nose first, straight down. It emerges with a mouse in its mouth an astounding 74 percent of the time when it attacks “about 20º clockwise of magnetic north,” according to a 2011 technical report in Biology Letters.1

A recent NPR blog discussed the fox’s winter hunting capabilities and included a link to a video clip of the fox in action.2

Attacks made when the foxes faced east or west returned a dismal 18 or fewer percent success rate, making a clear case for foxes’ geomagnetic sensory capabilities.

So far, nobody has discovered the specific organ, or combination of organs, responsible for the foxes’ acute sensory capability. The study authors suggested that it might be like the magnetite-based detectors that mole rats use to navigate underground. Or, it could be like some birds that have retinal cells tuned to detect electromagnetic current instead of light. If so, then the foxes might be able to triangulate the distance and direction to their prey by overlaying sensory data from sound, light, and electromagnetism.

The study authors described how this three-dimensional targeting system might work:

A fox moving in a fixed direction when approaching its prey (i.e. moving to the north), could approach until a specific component of the visual pattern generated by the magnetic compass is superimposed on the source of the sound from the prey, so that it could initiate an attack from a fixed distance.1

Where could a well-integrated and effective system such as this come from? The researchers wrote in Biology Letters, “Foxes may have evolved a different solution to this problem” of localizing prey without the advantage of sight.1 But no evidence supports the claim that foxes or environments or any combination of natural forces ever could invent a microscopic geomagnetic detector designed to solve hunting problems—or any other problems. Real solutions come from intelligent problem-solvers, so why would the foxes’ solution not also have been invented by specific intent?

References

  1. Cerveny, J. et al. 2011. Directional preference may enhance hunting accuracy in foraging foxes. Biology Letters. 7 (3): 355-357.
  2. Krulwich, R. ‘You’re Invisible, But I'll Eat You Anyway.’ Secrets Of Snow-Diving Foxes. NPR. Posted on npr.org January 3, 2014, accessed January 14, 2014.

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Article posted on January 24, 2014.

The Latest
NEWS
Distant Galaxies Continue to Challenge the Big Bang
Recently, a team of scientists released data collected from 800,000 galaxies at different distances from Earth, all lying within the same narrow slice...

NEWS
Did Teeth First Evolve as Sensory Tissue?
One of the mysteries of evolution (there are so many) is the origin of teeth. The past few years have witnessed a remarkable flurry of research...

NEWS
''The Flood of Death'': A Mass Dino Grave in Canada
Paleontologists in Alberta, Canada, have recently unearthed “a mass grave on a monumental scale.”1 The BBC story speaks of Thousands...

CREATION PODCAST
The 100th Episode of The Creation Podcast! | Let's Talk About...
What role do in-person events play for a creation science ministry? How can you host an event through ICR? Are these events still important...

NEWS
Bone, Skin, Claw Lasted…150 Million Years?
Experts and educators have long assumed Archaeopteryx represents a transition from theropod dinosaurs to modern birds. All of this speculation depends...

NEWS
How Did Earth Get Its Water?
Earth’s oceans contain 321 million cubic miles (1.335 billion cubic kilometers) of water. The moon causes ebb and flow of tides twice in a 24-hour...

NEWS
New Fossil Discovery Upends Animal Evolution...Again
Reptiles belong to a group of animals called amniotes that also include birds and mammals. A new Australian fossil discovery of a clawed amniote demonstrates...

NEWS
100% Cicada Fossil
Cicadas are an unusual-looking insect belonging to the order Hemiptera (the true bugs, including bed bugs and aphids). If you live in the eastern United...

CREATION PODCAST
Earth’s Origins: Science, Theology, and a New Geology Textbook...
Since the late eighteenth century, most scientists have argued for a uniformitarian view of Earth’s history. They claim the world...

NEWS
June 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from...