Lightning may have been the main cause of dozens of dead geese en route to the north.
Authorities found 51 dead geese in a parking lot in Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA, Fox News reported yesterday. They were discovered after a violent hailstorm. However, it was not the hail that killed the geese on their way north, according to the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Service (IDFG). There is a high chance that lightning will cause them to fall from the sky.
There is a high chance that lightning will cause them to fall from the sky.
“I don’t think it was hail or wind. The hail caused injuries but they were still alive and all of these geese were dead. By the time the staff arrived, none of them were moving,” James Brower, coordinator at IDFG, commented.
The birds include 48 snow geese and three anser rossii geese , located in an area with a radius of more than 90m, according to Jacob Berl, staff member at IDFG. This also suggests that lightning could be the cause of the incident. While dissecting some geese carcasses, Berl noticed that their lungs were damaged.
Wildlife officers sometimes receive reports of animal deaths, but often due to infection. Brower has never encountered a case like this in nearly 8 years of working here. Many factors such as time, wind, and direction of flight contributed to the incident.
The incident did not have a major impact on the number of snow geese in the area, Brower said. Idaho is a popular spot for birds to fly over when migrating north in the spring. Up to 60,000 snow geese, white-breasted geese and other birds visit the Wildlife Management Area during their journey north, according to the IDFG. Experts will conduct an autopsy to better understand the cause of the geese’s death.