SAUROPODS

[darylj]

OK, another question...
this one may seem a little bit out there, and I dont want to come across as stupid... but this has been whirling around my head now for a good few days and i have to vent it... and hear peoples thoughts?

sauropods, surely, were in serious danger of getting struck by lightning?
please dont laugh, but thik about it for a moment...

im not saying there was a lightning storm everyday back in the jurassic / cretaceous... but when there was...
anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Sharptooth]

Sometimes giraffes get struck by lightning (Darren Naish made a post about it in his old "Tetrapod Zoology" blog), so it probably happened to sauropods too 

[paleoferroequine]

  This is by Durbed/Arioch. Great artwork!  Horses and cattle get zapped all the time, too

[ZoPteryx]

Definitely one of the downsides to being super tall.   They probably learned to take shelter amongst tall trees when a storm was brewing. 

[paleoferroequine]

Definitely one of the downsides to being super tall.   They probably learned to take shelter amongst tall trees when a storm was brewing.

Ooohh... That's a good idea!

[Gwangi]

Working on a farm some we lost four cows to a single lightning strike and I remember hearing stories about it happening when I was a kid on the farm I grew up on. I'm certain it happened to Sauropods too, the question is...would any have survived it?

[paleoferroequine]

Working on a farm some we lost four cows to a single lightning strike and I remember hearing stories about it happening when I was a kid on the farm I grew up on. I'm certain it happened to Sauropods too, the question is...would any have survived it?

I'm sure they could, people sometimes survive when hit.  Lightning can act funny. Roy "Human Lightning Rod" Sullivan was struck 7 times and survived. He thought thunder clouds followed him. He got quite paranoid. He also had 22 encounters with black bears which he beat off with a stick. He got struck once by lightning while fishing and had to beat off a bear from his fish. Of course he was a park ranger, but still......

[Metallisuchus]

Working on a farm some we lost four cows to a single lightning strike and I remember hearing stories about it happening when I was a kid on the farm I grew up on. I'm certain it happened to Sauropods too, the question is...would any have survived it?

I'm sure they could, people sometimes survive when hit.  Lightning can act funny. Roy "Human Lightning Rod" Sullivan was struck 7 times and survived. He thought thunder clouds followed him. He got quite paranoid. He also had 22 encounters with black bears which he beat off with a stick. He got struck once by lightning while fishing and had to beat off a bear from his fish. Of course he was a park ranger, but still......

Haha! That's a crazy story, man. Especially considering that last part.

[Brachiosaurus]

Maybe sauropods could difuse the lightning into the ground.