8/15: Livestock hit by lightning

[Dark Chicken]

They didn't even need to be touching the fence, necessarily. The lightning strike occurs somewhere close to the cows. The current tries to go back to where the lightning strike originated, but can't go back straight up. It radiates out along the ground. A small fraction of the current will go into the cow, entering through one pair of hooves, and exiting out the other pair. This means that current will pass through the cow's heart. Side note: Never get on your hands and knees to present a smaller target for a lightning strike. While you are less likely to get hit by lightning directly, you are more likely to die. Just crouch or something.

Cows also like to gather around trees, with their heads facing towards the trees. When lightning hits the tree, as it is oft to do, not only will the trees be hit by parts of the tree, but they will be killed in the same fashion as I explained above. One would think that evolution would breed the stupid out of them.