blake
Life Member
NEWS:
Lightning Strike Kills 9 Deer in Illinois
4/27/2009
Nine deer were apparently struck and killed by a single bolt of lightning near Peoria, Illinois, last Sunday morning—an unusual happenstance, according to experts interviewed about the incident.
Two children reportedly came eight dead deer lying together in a crop field near their home; further investigation turned up another nearby deer, all apparently the victims of a single lightning strike.
"Every year, you hear about a farmer losing a cow to lightning," said Lauren Malmberg, director of the Peoria Animal Welfare Society. "And it happens sometimes to one deer. But I've never heard of more than one."
Dan Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln, said the deer most likely died from electrocution, due to feeding within close range on wet ground.
What is to become of the carcasses is unknown, since the landowners were out of town on Sunday and not expected to return until Friday of this week.
