45 cows killed by a single bolt of lightning
Rancher Jean Taylor from Darby, Montana suffered a loss of over 80% of her herd on July 14 after a single lightning bolt killed 45 cows.
Jean told the Billings Gazette, “It was exactly 10:28 p.m.. The clap of thunder woke me up. Some friends told me they felt the shock in their house. They were beautiful cattle. It killed cows and their calves and a bull that we had just bought last spring. It’s very sad.”
The animals were crowded together under some crabapple trees when the bolt struck. Local ranchers helped Jean dispose of the dead animals. “No one had ever heard of so many cattle being killed by lightning like that. We have eight or 10 cows left in our herd,” Taylor added.
HT: Uproxx
