8/15: Livestock hit by lightning

[Undertoad]

More images from the NOAA lightning picture gallery.

Yesterday, too, there was a story about a Pennsylvania man who has been struck by lightning three times in the last five years. Which is weird because Pennsylvania doesn't really get that much lightning - Florida sees three times the number of thunderstorms that Pennsylvania (home of the Cellar) does.

how exactly did this work? i'm assuming all the cows are dead. was there some conductive material touching all of them? were they all standing in a marsh area and the lightning hit the ground? i'm assuming they weren't all up against that electric fence there, so i wonder - what did the lightning actually hit?

[jaguar]

I assume lightening hit the fence

[Slight]

Sure lightning did it. How about massive alien cow tipping contest.

It also could have been a single shot from a Luger ala indiana jones and the quest for the holy grrraaaillllllah.

[Degrees]

I showed these pictures to a friend of mine who grew up out in the country. He said he has seen during bad weather, all the cows in a field would go to the fence and stick their heads through. Don't know why, but apparently they do.

Originally posted by Degrees
I showed these pictures to a friend of mine who grew up out in the country. He said he has seen during bad weather, all the cows in a field would go to the fence and stick their heads through. Don't know why, but apparently they do.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

still weird though. wonder if that farmer's insurance covers lightning-struck cows....

[zeolite]

Any insurance he had probably does not cover Acts of (an apparently bovine hating) God.

Living in cattle country, there are several reports like this each year. Strangely, the lightning tends to jump from one cow to the other via their horns, of all things. Cattle must have some kind of sense as far as electrical charges are concerned because I have seen them exhibit the "stick head through fence during storm" behaviour before. And I can tell you, cows do get nervous when there is thunderstorm activity in the area. It might be the noise or the barometric pressure. Whatever it is, they have a concerned look in those big, stupid eyes of theirs.

[dynamo]

Maybe they get concerned because the day after every nasty storm, there are 30 dead cows by the fence

[ndetroit]

If they really do get concerned about lighting storms, and know (perhaps instinctually) that they can be zapped through their horns, perhaps they were simply all trying to touch the fences to ground themselves, in an attempt to avoid being on the end of a charge.....

[elSicomoro]

Why does this remind me of the episode of "South Park" where the cows are able to communicate with the aliens, then kill themselves?

[Hubris Boy]

Originally posted by dynamo
Maybe they get concerned because the day after every nasty storm, there are 30 dead cows by the fence

ROFL!

Dynamo understands that brevity is the soul of wit.

[Doom2pro]

The reason all the cows died is because of this:

1: If you notice, you will see that the "Wires" that are made of metal, Do not actually touch the ground.

2: Cows do stick there head through the fence, because nature tells them to flee Thunderstorms.

3: Cows are moist, salty Objects (Salt with Water conducts electricty)

As you can see, The Cows are "Big Moist Objects", Touching the part of the fence that is made of Metal, witch is long.

So, The best possible way to tell what happned might be this:

The Lighting struck:

1: the Metal Part of the fence, real close to the cows
2: one of the Cows touching the Metal Part of the fence

Sence Lightning wants to get to the ground, one might rule out a Far away (Not near cows) strike to the Fence, because it would have hit the fence, and jumped straight to the ground before it hit anything.

However if it was close to the cows, it would have travled down the "Wires" Into the Cows "Moist and Salty" bodies, Through there Moist feet, Into the Ground, Going through the Heart of the cow on the way down, thus Killing the cow(s).

So One might say, something gave the the Lighting a Nice tasty Shortcut to the ground, Like a nice "Moist Salty Bovine" Connecting, A: The Wire, to B: the Ground.

Think of it like this, You got one big Huge Outlet & Wire, You Take one end of the Wire and Connect it to a Long Wire (Fence), you take the other end and connect it to a Big Metal Plate (Ground), you Place the Cows on the Metal Plate, make them All touch the Wire, and then you Plug the Wire in the Outlet, and...

Beef it's whats for Dinner.

Although, this could have happened another way... Perhaps the Fence was an Electric Fence? a Suicide Group? Or what if one of the local Rednects Bent over, and his Rear was Exposed, causing the Horrified cows to Charge the fence.

Who knows?

[Elspode]

I note that, in the second, close-up picture, there appears to be a bird on the far right fence post, eyeing the scene. Sort of recalls Gary Larson's "When Crows Dream" cartoon, doesn't it?

[xoxoxoBruce]

I would guess the static electricity the come with the storms makes their hair stand, up like it does on your arm or head. Maybe sticking their head through the fence drains off this uncomfortable charge.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Pardon that last post. While editing the punctuation and some of the words got a little screwed up. Must have been passion.