Don't leave your cow locked in the car either

[pscot]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903461104576462550126802280.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Midwestern cattle farmers have escaped a devastating drought in the southern U.S. only to watch thousands of their animals die from withering heat this week.

Agriculture officials are still trying to a get handle on the number of heat-related deaths, but a combination of record temperatures and high humidity took a toll. Officials in Minnesota so far estimate loses at 1,000 head, while South Dakota reported at least 2,000 deaths. Some livestock managers expect total losses to be considerably larger.
......
Daytime high temperatures in North and South Dakota and the upper Midwest have been in the upper 90s to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with high humidity levels pushing heat indices above 120 degrees in some areas. The severe conditions are expected to moderate over the next week, but temperatures will still be hotter than normal.

Cattle aren't built for hot, muggy weather. They produce heat internally when they eat and many, like red and black Angus cattle, have dark fur and an outer layer of fat, both of which heat up quickly.

"You're dealing with a black animal sitting there in 120-degree sun," said David Newman, professor of animal science at North Dakota State University in Fargo. "That thing is a magnet for the heat."

[lonestarnot]

1. Moo.

How sad that.

[glowing]

2. pull out the A-1 sauce, they're cooking in the fields.

[Historic NY]

3. A little too rare.

[glowing]

4. Steak Tartare. I know I'm making light of a horrible thing. Poor cows.

There to be fed and fattened for us to consume.. Dying a horrible way, litteraly baking to death.

[Igel]

5. Spell it "litorally" and you're describing Waikiki. n/t

[Igel]

6. Wouldn't leave one in the car.

It'd crap all over the seats, and let's not even talk about the horns. Or methane.

[petronius]

7. There's a cattle heat stress index just like there's a human heat index

THI = T_air – (0.55-(0.55*RH/100))*(T_air-58.8) for outdoor cattle. A value over 72 indicates mild stress, and it progresses from there to mortality...

[FLPanhandle]

8. "Cattle aren't built for hot, muggy weather"

Yet Florida is one of the top cattle states in the country & they seem to do fine here in hot muggy weather.

Of course, most fields have trees with shade and ponds for them to lull in which the Dakotas are probably lacking.

[roody]

9. They have no shade. How cruel.