The animals grazed in a small herd in Stjørdal. On Friday, there was a violent thunderstorm over Trøndelag. The farmer was doing some work in the area when it started with heavy rain and lightning and thunder. – We didn’t think it was that close to us, but on the way home I drove past the cows’ pasture just to be safe, to check that everything was in order, says farmer Ole Andreas Lerfald in Hegra. Then the animals stood by a small spruce pole and everything was as it should be. The next day, he is told that hikers have seen two dead cows in the pasture. – It must have happened quickly, because they had a lot of blood from the muzzle and the blood vessels in the neck were somehow burst, says Lerfald. Blood flowed from the mule to the cows, in addition to having burst blood vessels on their necks. Photo: Ole Andreas Lerfald It was Adresseavisen that first mentioned the case. – Sad and a shame The farmer thinks it’s all very sad. Both cows each had a calf of around five months, in addition to being pregnant and due to have a new calf in December. They were suckling cows of the Simmental breed and were breeding animals. – The whole thing is just sad and a shame, says Lerfald. He contacted a vet, and he and his son brought home the two dead animals from the pasture. The one cow has, in a way, just sealed together. The one cow on the summer pasture in Stjørdal. Photo: Ole Andreas Lerfald Now the motherless calves join other calves at home on the farm. – They will do well with good follow-up with power feeding and care at home, says Lerfald. The area where the lightning struck is an embankment in a grazing common in the area Lerfaldvollen in Bruås and Rauå state common. The animals use to be here for summer grazing. The two dead cows were in a herd with 12 other cows and 7 calves. The place where they were found was only thirty yards from where the farmer stood when he looked about them the night before. – I think lightning must have struck them shortly after I was there, says Lerfald. Four-legged animals particularly at risk Specialist for cattle at the veterinary institute, Marie Krossnes Myklatun, tells Adresseavisen that cows can be particularly exposed to lightning strikes. – Four-legged animals in particular are also exposed to electricity that is transmitted via the ground, which can affect the heart and lead to cardiac arrest. Such lightning strikes can also affect several animals at the same time. But they dare not draw conclusions in this matter until they know more. She tells the newspaper that it happens that animals on pasture are struck by lightning – and that the animals can then get strip-shaped burns on the skin if they are hit directly by the lightning. Photo: Ole Andreas Lerfald Published 10.06.2024, at 21.46 Updated 10.06.2024, at 10 p.m
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Found two dead cows after a lightning strike at Lerfaldvollen in Stjørdal – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
