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   Clodfobble  Sunday Oct 26 03:13 AM

October 26, 2008: Electric Fence



52 cows were simultaneously killed last Wednesday in a small village near San Jose, Uruguay, when lightning struck the metal fence they were leaning against. Apparently it is common behavior for these and other farm animals to scatter to the perimeter of the field during thunderstorms. Veterinarians confirmed that each of the 52 cows was electrocuted.



classicman  Sunday Oct 26 03:16 AM

That's shocking.



xoxoxoBruce  Sunday Oct 26 03:33 AM

I've also seen pictures like this with horses. Critters will gather under trees, too, which is a really bad idea. Really sad.



newtimer  Sunday Oct 26 04:17 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by classicman View Post
That's shocking.
I agree. Udderly shocking.


classicman  Sunday Oct 26 05:35 AM

They should have moo-ved away.



SPUCK  Sunday Oct 26 05:59 AM

That's sad, all of them pasturing away like that..



MAW!! Fetch me my bar bee Q sauce.



ZenGum  Sunday Oct 26 06:34 AM

People, I herd that we've already done the electricity puns. Please steer away from them.


Just imagine for a moment that you drove down that road and didn't know about the lightning, and didn't know what had killed the cows. Windows down? or up?



Sundae  Sunday Oct 26 10:00 AM

Wow. Like Zen says, what if you didn't know - I certainly wouldn't have guessed.

In fact I'd be looking for the cow equivilant of KoolAid.



Mayor of Shekou  Sunday Oct 26 11:52 AM

Wow. A real field day for that rare person into both bestiality and necrophilia!



dar512  Sunday Oct 26 01:59 PM

I blame the parents. These cows would never have died if they hadn't been grounded.



glatt  Sunday Oct 26 04:32 PM

I understand that in a fence like this, a strong current can be induced during an electrical storm, even if the fence itself isn't struck. When lightning strikes even a few hundred feet away from the fence, it radiates an electromagnetic field, and as that field passes by the fence, a current is induced in the fence wire. The stronger and closer the lightning strike is to the fence, the stronger the current.

This is exactly the same principle an electric generator uses, only a generator uses magnets for a field source instead of a lightning bolt.



Gravdigr  Sunday Oct 26 05:12 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mayor of Shekou View Post
Wow. A real field day for that rare person into both bestiality and necrophilia!
Jackpot!!! Giggity-giggity-moo!!


Quote:
Originally Posted by dar512 View Post
I blame the parents. These cows would never have died if they hadn't been grounded.



Elspode  Sunday Oct 26 07:22 PM

I wonder if they were medium or well done?



sweetwater  Sunday Oct 26 09:17 PM

This is an especially tragic scene because the grass is actually greener on their side of the fence... for all the good it did them.



onetrack  Sunday Oct 26 11:05 PM

Not as unusual as you'd imagine ..

That number has gotta be some kind of record. I recall a number of years ago, that a farmer situated in the high country (Tablelands) of North-Western, New South Wales (the state in which Sydney is the capital), lost 45 cattle to one lightning strike.
He had previously lost another sizeable number of cattle (about 30, I think) some 10-15 years before.
The Tablelands region has areas that record enormous numbers of lightning strikes, in comparison to other areas, and it's all to do with elevation and topography, that assists thunderstorm buildup.

The number of horses struck by lightning is sizeable, too - both when being ridden, and in older times when working the fields.
If thunderstorms are close, and you're riding a horse, it's advisable to dismount and reduce your profile to lower your chances of being struck.



tw  Monday Oct 27 04:39 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by glatt View Post
I understand that in a fence like this, a strong current can be induced during an electrical storm, even if the fence itself isn't struck. When lightning strikes even a few hundred feet away from the fence, it radiates an electromagnetic field, and as that field passes by the fence, a current is induced in the fence wire. The stronger and closer the lightning strike is to the fence, the stronger the current.
Which makes complete sense until we apply numbers.

If a nearby strike could induce currents that high, then devices designed to maximumize those currents would always be destroyed by nearby strikes. How many cell phones and car radios are routinely destroyed by nearby strikes? Zero.

Campers were sleeping near a tree that suffered a direct lightning strike. Those who were sleeping parallel to the tree were unharmed. Those who were sleeping pointed towards the tree were rushed to the emergency room. Follow the current (just like diagnosing hum from a computer). Current was down the tree, through earth, into the campers head, out via his feet, then outward in earth. Best electrical path was the longest distance through campers who were not parallel.

Same applies to four legged animals that are at even greater risk. Common is for a nearby tree to be struck. That current takes a shorter path by rising from earth into a cow's hind legs. Back to earth on fore legs. Path through a cow is the most conductive path which is why a tree struck 30 feet away also electrocutes nearby four legged animals.

What should be located on golf courses? Shacks surrounded by a buried copper wire loop so that lightning currents in earth need not kill by traveling up one leg and down the other. Instead the buried loop makes an electrically shorter path.

Damage from nearby fields is common when myths get promoted as fact. If nearby fields were so deadly, then every nearby baby monitor and smoke detector were also destroyed.

Only fact was that cows were electrocuted. Was a tree just behind the photographer? Currents down that tree and through cows may have been seeking charges located somewhere on the horizon of that picture.


SPUCK  Monday Oct 27 06:06 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Elspode View Post
I wonder if they were medium or well done?
No no you have it wrong. They are done 4.


SPUCK  Monday Oct 27 06:14 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by ZenGum View Post
Just imagine for a moment that you drove down that road and didn't know about the lightning, and didn't know what had killed the cows. Windows down? or up?

Nice..

Here's where the skilled prankster puts up a sign that sez;

DANGER!!
BIOHAZARD
STAY BACK
100FEET


So they have to get out and look closely to read the sign.


spudcon  Monday Oct 27 06:59 AM

Knowing cow behavior, and seeing the green pasture, one might think these cows were just very contented, instead of being ground beef.



gmr2048  Monday Oct 27 01:54 PM

In other news...

...the local McDonald's franchise announced "10¢ Hamburgers Week" starts today!



Sheldonrs  Monday Oct 27 01:58 PM

I'm guessing that the moths of the world are finally testing their Human Zapper on larger animals before human testing begins.



Nirvana  Monday Oct 27 04:15 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by gmr2048 View Post
...the local McDonald's franchise announced "10¢ Hamburgers Week" starts today!
Those cows are in too good of shape to be used for McDonald's hamburgers.


Flint  Monday Oct 27 04:40 PM

We should eat those cows.

No...I'm sorry. I went too far.



busterb  Tuesday Oct 28 10:11 PM

The farmers around here only lose cattle to lighting strikes around income tax time



SPUCK  Wednesday Oct 29 03:35 AM

Near here a turkey ranch caught one of the 5 or 6 lightning bolts that show up in our area each year. The turkeys were all near a huge metal feed trough when it was struck. Approximately 10,000 turkeys um, ah, bought the farm. I believe the farm shut down permanently soon after.



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