How did Holly the housecat find her way back to her home 200 miles away? Scientists aren’t sure. “Any animal that comes back to the right place after a long travel, or comes back to the same place again and again following a major movement, is amazing,” said Martin Wikelski, a migration expert at the Max Planck Institute.

There are plenty of animals who are very good at finding their way. The European eel, which travels thousands of miles from the place it was born to spawn. Mexican free-tailed bats fly up to 40 miles away from their home caves while they’re hunting for dinner, and are able to find their way back home.

Read about more amazing animal navigators on National Geographic News.

Get the facts on your favorite animals on National Geographic Kids.