My brother saw the column and reminded me of another account of Louie’s homing skills. We were staying in a beach motel - about sixty miles from where we lived - and Louie came along. We’d been there for about four days, and Louie had not been anywhere but our room and the beach. My younger brother got hit in the eye with a thrown rock (so it does happen!) and we rushed him to the hospital, at least six miles away (for those in the SF Bay Area, the motel was in Capitola and the hospital was in Santa Cruz… can’t remember the distance). Louie jumped out of the car at the hospital and we lost him. My brother got patched up in the ER and we headed back to the motel in Capitola, where we found Louie waiting on the walk in front of the door. Explain that one. - Jill
Homing behavior in mammals is not nearly as well understood as it is in birds. Some feats of homing in bears - over 100 miles in some cases - imply to me that they must be using either celestial or magnetic cues. On the other hand, it’s not out of the question that Louie was able to smell his way back to the motel over a distance of a mere six miles - perhaps by homing in on distinct odors in the surroundings of the motel.
Just thought I’d put in my story. When we moved from Perth to Sydney (5000 km)we drove but didn’t take our cat. But he managed to follow us all the way to our new house.
The damn thing was annoying the neighbours so much that we had it flown east. It took about half a day, whereas we took three days to cover the distance.
Does this qualify?
FloChi
Colibri provided a nice link re: pigeon navigation.
Thanks! I’ll have to send that one to my friend and maybe there’ll be something there he can use when training his pigeons.
Have heard lots of anecdotal evidence that seems to defy scientific explainations, and the skeptic in me always questions their accuracy. However, my roommate tells me that no matter when I arrive home, or from what direction I come, or in a different vehicle, on foot, or via bicycle, her six year old Yorkie “Buddy” goes crackers for about a minute or two prior to my entrance. I’m the one who usually walks him, but she feeds, grooms, and bathes him. I’ve noticed he does go nuts prior to her coming home, but not to the degree she describes. Still a mystery to me.
Actually, I think the vast majority will spend several hours happily sniffing each other’s rear ends. (Sorry…) 
More seriously, sford raises a good point.
Some have speculated that in some cases where a dog or cat seems to show up thousands of miles away when a family moves, the family is actually seeing another dog or cat, a local stray, that looks like the family’s pet. Of course this is possible at least some of the time.