Blogs & Ecology

Image: Ruth Lyon-Bateman

They say lightning never strikes twice, but for cows it just seems to keep on striking, as yet another herd of cattle was zapped by one of nature’s most volatile forces. A single bolt of lightning killed 52 cows in San Jose, Uruguay last Wednesday, 22 October, during a night storm. According to reports, the cows were trying to find protection by huddling against a fence, but the plan backfired, quite literally, as fence-protector became fence-conductor.

photo: Steven Roemerman

OK, before anyone accuses me of a misleading headline: Coal-fired power plants in Iowa produce much more carbon emissions than do ethanol plants. Said. Done. Moving on: While it’s true that I believe that corn ethanol is probably one of the worst biofuels out there on many levels, I’m presenting this not to bash ethanol; instead I saw this in the context of “gee, whaddya know...”

7.6 Million Tonnes From Ethanol Plants

Image: peregrinari7

A hot potato in recent global warming debates has been the increased production of methane into the atmosphere as a result of increased cattle farming, and even though hungry carnivores know their lust for bovine cuts only bolsters demand, they’re not about to give up their love of hamburgers or steak any time soon. So what’s the solution? According to Australia’s climate change adviser, the answer is simple: eat kangaroo.

Image: Cow with mastitis (Monica Morgan on Flickr)

When we shared a satirical advertisement for Human Cheese, sweet and tangy, comments ranged from:

• "um.... yeah. thanks, time to go powerwash the inside of my skull" to
• "I love that people are grossed out by this but not by eating products made out of the breast milk of other species" and
• "Honestly I've been boggled for some time now that no one has tried to market human breast milk before."

Image source: Getty Images

Image source: Getty Images

Well, we don't know if they like them, but they will eat them. And as the cost of grains and corn has gone up because of the interest in ethanol, feeding cattle strictly corn is too expensive, reports the Wall Street Journal. So farmers are now moving to alternatives such as m&m's and potato chips mixed in with their corn, frankly because its cheaper. Compared to some of the other things that ranchers can and do feed cattle, maybe its not such a bad thing.

Image source: Getty Images

Well, we don't know if they like them, but they will eat them. And as the cost of grains and corn has gone up because of the interest in ethanol, feeding cattle strictly corn is too expensive, reports the Wall Street Journal. So farmers are now moving to alternatives such as m&m's and potato chips mixed in with their corn, frankly because its cheaper. Compared to some of the other things that ranchers can and do feed cattle, maybe its not such a bad thing.

National Geographic looks at human consumption and our impact on earth. There is a look at the Meat production industry.

Not the actual bull, above image taken in Pamplona by Eneko Alonso

No, this isn’t bull - excuse the pun. No, like something from a cartoon or an indoor Pamplona bull festival, a German family were left gob-smacked when one of the beasts charged into their house through the back door and took a full tour of the building before leaving by the front door.

The bull, which completely destroyed the furnishings of the house, did not injure any of the family members, but did cause 10,000 euros (15,000 USD) worth of damage.

So how did the bull get there?