A Jackson County, Colo., rancher was struck and killed by lightning Saturday afternoon.
Multiple news outlets reported that Mike Morgan, 51, was feeding hay to cattle from the back of a trailer following a day of branding when the tragedy occurred.
The lightning bolt struck on wide open pasture outside the town of Rand, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) northwest of Denver, said George Crocket, the county coroner. Crocket said the lightning that struck Morgan also knocked about 100 cows and calves off their feet, killing 34 cows and three calves.
“As best I can tell, it hit him on the trailer. The cattle were bunched up around the trailer and it hit them all,” Crocket said.
Morgan’s father-in-law was driving a tractor hooked to the trailer when the lightning struck, and Morgan’s wife was nearby, leading horses toward a horse trailer to load them. They had just finished branding day.
A Facebook post from His Cavvy Foundation, a nonprofit helping ranchers with serious medical issues, said Morgan’s wife was horseback about 200 feet away when the lightning struck, knocking her off her horse. The His Cavvy Foundation post also said Morgan and his wife Niki recently purchased 300 pairs of their own, a lifelong dream. Niki calved the pairs out this winter while Mike worked at Silver Spur Ranches. The couple have a 17-year-old daughter, Dallas.
