DU eggheads, a question

[liberaltrucker]

There's a thunderstorm here. I saw a woodpecker
at the bird feeder, which is attached to a tree.

The question: If lightning strikes the tree, will
the oblivious bird survive? SO says yes, it's not
touching the ground. I say no, because the humid
air provides some conductivity to ground.

Your ideas?

[david13]

1. All depends on whether or not the electro goes thru' the bird, or not. dc

[liberaltrucker]

3. Good point

Birds have oily feathers which repel water.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear liberaltrucker!

I'm not sure, actually...

If the bird feeder is metal, the woodpecker might well get fried. But I don't know!

Hopefully someone else will come along who does...

:shrug:

:hug:

[liberaltrucker]

4. We wont find out tonight

A FUCKING LOUD thunderclap scared the shit
out of the bird. And us!

:hug:

[struggle4progress]

5. Probably. The lightning needed actually strike to kill: the induced

currents from a near-strike can disrupt enough to stop heartbeat: this is a potential killer without prompt help

There will also be unpredictable wood shrapnel: I once saw a lightning-hit tree with a groove maybe 6" wide and 6" deep spiraling down the trunk. I presume the wood was blasted out in shreds by sudden temperature changes or steam

[liberaltrucker]

6. Makes sense, thanks.

:)

[rurallib]

7. Speaking of peckers and electricity

how could I resist linking to one of these?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV9QkKBT33c

[ElboRuum]

8. The trunk of the tree will explode.

If not the millions of volts, the shrapnel.

[MajorChode]

9. I was next to a tree that exploded from lightening

I was driving along in a thunderstorm. At the same instant that I topped a hill, lightening struck a tree next to the road. It was the loudest thing I have ever heard before or since. It sounded like a very large bomb exploded right next to me. Shards from the tree landed on the car. I very nearly shit myself.

[Lasher]

10. Airplanes in the sky get struck by lightning.

So you don't have to be touching the ground to be in peril. You just have to be between the lighning source and someplace it wants to go.

If any of the lightning strike's leaders (either from the cloud down or from the ground up) takes a path from the air to the woodpecker to the feeder to the tree, the bird is toast. But if the lightning strikes only the tree, the woodpecker would not be electrocuted because its body would have the same electrical potential as the tree. In that case it could still be endangered, however, as heating of tree sap into steam commonly triggers violent explosions.

Let's say you are in a car and a live power line falls, coming into contact with your vehicle. You would not be harmed because your body would have the same potential as the car. The rubber tires do not protect you.

But if you touch anything besides the car while remaining in contact with the vehicle, you'll get fried. If you jump from the car, you'll be fine.

[Dr Morbius]

11. Unless the power line chases after you, like in Final Destination. (nt)