Monday 3 July 2017

Do Giraffes Get Struck by Lightning More Than Other Animals?




By Ross Pomeroy, RealClearScience | June 25, 2017 09:24am ET 

Two months ago, Reddit user infernograve woke from a vivid dream. As wakefulness crept back, the dream did not recede, rather, it stuck in his mind, piquing his curiosity and prompting a burning question. He subsequently logged into Reddit's popular AskScience subreddit to share it:


The question is now the most popular ever asked on the forum.

So do giraffes get struck by lightning at higher rates? Intuitively, the obvious answer is "yes." Standing between fourteen and nineteen feet tall when fully grown, giraffes tower above the savannah and open woodland landscapes where they dwell. Of course, lightning doesn't always strike the tallest object in an area, but taller objects are more susceptible due to the shorter gap between the object and the lightning's point of origin.


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