Jean Taylor, a rancher in Darby, Montana, is in total disbelief after a single bolt of lightning killed 45 of her cows, all of which were crowded under a bunch of the farm’s crabapple trees. The freak incident happened last week and has resulted in Taylor losing over 80% of her entire herd.
“It was exactly at 10:28 p.m.,” Taylor said. “The clap of thunder woke me up. Some friends told me they felt the shock in their house.”
The Taylors live south of Tin Cup Road.
The family had spent years building their herd of Black Angus cattle.
“They were beautiful cattle,” she said. “It killed cows and their calves and a bull that we had just bought last spring. It’s very sad.”
Local ranchers helped the family dispose of the dead animals.
“No one had ever heard of so many cattle being killed by lightning like that,” Taylor said. “We have eight or 10 cows left in our herd.”
Doesn’t Mother Nature know how awesome cows are? Can’t we all just get along?
And now, let’s have a mooment of silence for our beloved bovine.