Anthony Carboni here for DNews. Dogs seemingly need to spin before just about everything—going to the bathroom, lying down, when they're excited.

我是 DNews 的 Anthony Carboni。狗做任何事之前似乎都要先轉個圈，舉凡上廁所、躺下、興奮的時候。

Dogs are weird. Why are dogs weird?

狗很怪。為什麼狗這麼奇怪呢？

In terms of spinning, I mean.

我指的是轉圈這件事。

Circling before going to sleep at night might seem weird on your couch,

晚上睡覺前，在你的沙發上轉圈圈似乎看起來有些怪，

but in the wild, dogs would spin and trample to push down tall grasses and underbrush, pack down snow, and drive away snakes and insects.

但是在野外，狗會轉圈然後把草叢踏平、把雪填平，以及趕走蛇和昆蟲。

It kept them clean, warm, and hidden.

以此保持乾淨、溫暖，以及隱私。

Flattening the ground in circles could also have been a sign to other dogs wandering by that the territory had already been claimed.

以轉圈來填平地板也是一種表示，藉此向其他在旁徘徊的狗宣示自己的地盤。

Those hygienic and territorial instincts might factor into why they spin before going to the bathroom, too.

這些衛生上的、捍衛領土的本能或許是為何上廁所前也要轉圈的原因。

Patting down underbrush keeps the dog's waste from sticking to it and then rubbing it on their own fur.

狗兒在草叢拍掉黏在屁屁的排泄物，然後按摩自己的皮毛。

Also, patting down the area could allow for the scents in their urine and feces to spread farther, making it clearer what territory they marked.

如此還能順便將沾在尿液和糞便上的自身氣味散播得更遠，以更清楚地宣示自己的領地。

But there's an even newer, weirder theory about why puppy poop spins happen that I am WAY more into.

但是又有更新的、奇怪的理論解釋為何狗兒便便前要轉圈，我非常有興趣。

We've talked before about magnetoception, a sense that allows some animals to feel the earth's magnetic field.

我們先前談過磁感，磁感讓某些動物能感受到地球的磁場。

Birds use it in migration, some studies say cows use it to align themselves in a north-south pattern when they graze,

鳥用它來遷徙，有些研究顯示牛在吃草時，都是南北走向在吃的，

and now it seems like dogs use it to poop in exactly the same direction.

而現在狗兒似乎也用磁感來往同一個方向便便。

In a study published recently in Frontiers in Zoology, researchers watched 70 dogs across 37 different breeds for two years as they pulled off a poop spin combo.

在《動物學前線》期刊最新發佈的一項研究中，研究者花了兩年，觀察70隻37種不同品種的狗做出一連串便便前旋轉的行為。

And they all preferred to poop aligned north-to-south when the earth's magnetic field is calm.

而當地球磁場平靜的時候，這些狗大便時，大多喜歡朝向南北。

That's about 20 percent of the time during daylight hours.

白天時地球磁場只有20%是穩定的。

During things like solar flares or geomagnetic storms or other events, they were much less picky about it.

地球磁場較不穩定，如太陽閃焰、磁暴或其他因素時，上廁所就不會有這種情形出現。

The researchers aren't sure why they prefer it, but they did note that not only do dogs want to poop north-south, they actively avoid a straight-up east-west orientation.

目前研究人員不確定為何牠們喜歡這樣，但是他們的確發現狗不只是喜歡朝向南北大便，也積極地避開東西向。

I wonder if it's some sort of remnant of a past, stronger sense they had.

不知道是不是因為某些過去的、強烈的知覺還遺留在牠們身上。

You know, we humans have proteins in our eyes that make researchers think that at some point we could SEE earth's magnetic field.

你知道的，我們人類眼中有蛋白質，因此學者認為人類在某些程度上是可以看見地球磁場的。

And it seems like a strong magnetic sense would help pack animals move and hunt in some way.

強烈的磁場感應似乎可以幫助動物以某些方法整裝移動和打獵。

But why the pooping, dogs? Why the poop direction?

但跟狗狗大便有什麼關聯呢？為何便便也要有方向？

Do you guys have any theories? Spin around about three times and let me know down below.

各位有其他想法嗎？轉三圈後回覆在下面讓我知道。

Oh, and if you're into dogs, our friends at Animalist News are going to the Westminster Dog Show in New York City.

對了，如果你對狗有興趣，我們在Animalist News的朋友將要去紐約市的西敏寺犬展。

They'll be there on the 10th and the 11th, so head over and subscribe now so you don't miss it.

他們10、11號會在那裡，所以馬上前往訂閱，你才不會錯過喔！