Humans are so accustomed to using landmarks that we usually don’t even realise when we are doing it.
“Turn left at the post office.”
“Meet you by the bridge.”
“Keep going until you see the round clump of trees…”
And we’ve known for decades that mammals and birds also rely on landmarks. Pigeons are expert navigators and they have learned to adapt to the modern landscape, they are as happy following roads as natural features like rivers.
Humans will create landmarks where there are few natural ones. Have you ever walked up a mountain and got back down without seeing a few piles of stones, cairns, along the way? No, neither have I. It’s almost a compulsion for some I think. There are piles of stones where none are needed for practical navigational purposes. The reason is probably no more complex than we want to mark the land to make it more recognisable and therefore more familiar and therefore more friendly.
Ants will use the sun’s angle and track scents. But now scientists have proved that ants not only use landmarks but also create them. Desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, have to navigate barren landscapes and will make use of any natural features they find. But in a recent study, researchers discovered that the ants will also create visible landmarks near the entrance to their nest to help them navigate their way home.
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The Beginner’s Guide to Natural Navigation – The Online Course