Why Do Birds And Squirrels Not Get Electrocuted Sitting On Live Power wires?

in #steemstem7 years ago (edited)

Hello guys. Here we are again to learn yet another new thing that's totally unrelated to steemit. You know when we were younger...as children, we were given stern warnings not to play with electrical devices, not to put our fingers into live sockets or tamper with electric cables carrying electric current to our homes. We well understand the dangers of doing any of these — instant electrocution.

Birds_writing_a_song_in_the_electric_wires (1).JPG

Wikimedia Co Creative Commons

Coming from this background, it may have surprised you the first time you observed tens to hundreds of birds sitting comfortably on public power lines or squirrels running playfully along the wires. And you were like; *"what the hell? Are they getting shock?" And then there was no sign they were getting shocked. No feathers being tossed about by air current nor smell of roasted animals. And you would wonder; "Why are these animals not getting electrocuted? What do these creatures possess that make them perfectly safe?"

There are two major scientifically based reasons why this is so...

Birds are poor conductors of electricity

"Electricity flows by the movement of electrons through conductors. The copper wire in electrical wires is a great conductor of electricity. Copper allows electricity to flow easily along its surface." Source

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Pixabay Co Creative Commons

Without free flow of electrons through a conductor, there would be no electricity. The body cells and tissues of the birds do not offer more free electrons than the copper wires along which electricity is already flowing. Hence, the electricity would rather continue to flow through the copper wire since its resistance is negligible and electrons are readily made available. Thus, the bird is bypassed while electricity continues its journey through the copper wires. This explains why the birds and squirrels appeared unperturbed.

No Voltage difference within a single wire

A difference in electrical potential must be generated before electrons can move and cause electricity to harm the birds. This is a primary requirement for flow of current. Normally, electrical current (otherwise called electrical potential) flows from a region of highest potential to a region of lowest potential. This is akin to dropping a ball on the side of a mountain. All things being equal, the ball would tend to fall down the mountain and wouldn't fall against the force of gravity.

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Pixabay CCO Creative Commons

Electricity flowing through a single power line at 35,000 volts will continue along the path of least resistance and bypass birds, because there's no difference in electrical potential, as both of the birds feet are on the same wire and the copper wire was designed to offer least resistance. Source

However, if the bird would touch the ground with one of its feet or mistakenly spread its wings such that they touch another live wire operating at a different electrical potential. This would create a change in voltage or electrical potential, causing electrons to flow and thus generating electricity, which may most likely kill the birds via electrocution. This obviously explains why utility wires are taken high in the air above easy reach of humans and wide space made between them.

Conclusion

From what we have done do far, it is now clear to us the reasons birds don't get electrocuted when they sit comfortably on live electric cables. One, they sit on a single wire having no difference in electrical potential, with bother of their feet. Two, their cells and tissues offer stronger resistance to flow of electricity than copper wires. These conditions are valid only if they birds continue to sit on such cables without touching another cable, or ground, that is having a different voltage potential. Thank you for reading.

References

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However, if the bird would touch the ground with one of its feet or mistakenly spread its wings such that they touch another live wire operating at a different electrical potential. This would create a change in voltage or electrical potential, causing electrons to flow and thus generating electricity, which may most likely kill the birds via electrocution. This obviously explains why utility wires are taken high in the air above easy reach of humans and wide space made between them.

Now this is the more reason why i always see a dead bird in front of our estate, and there is a wire passing across, lol, some people be mistaking it for a voodoo... Lmao. Thanks for sharing boss. Stay awesome.

Yeah. That's the reason exactly. Thanks for visiting @euronation first lady

i have seen a few squirrels get zaped. they ussually make the mistake of putting a foot on the pole that is grounded and the misfortune of having the other foot on a poorly shielded high voltage wire. zap squirrel jerky.

Hahahahahsh.... Anyone who tries that does. That's their mistake

Thanks @ eurogee, this is really imformative and i cant believe i never thought of this before, thanks for the observation.

This is informative and educative. Thanks for sharing

This is really interesting and it is possible simply because they don’t have direct contact with the electric cable due to the fact that their feet’s are coated with rubber.

I have always wandered this same thing but never bothered to research on it. Thanks for the information.

You are most welcome, dear

Nice lecture and analysis on birds' feet non conduction of electricity and their survival on high voltages cos of it

Thanks for visiting

This is a question i got from my 8 year old girl sometime ago. I answered her already but will still pick out new points from this post to buttress the point. Thanks so much boss. Its educative as always

You are most welcome @air-clinic receptionist

The best explanation I got! I asked an electrical engineer this sometime ago and I guess the second reason you gave was what I couldn't understand from his long narrative and I didn't bother to go researching about it. Lol...
Here I got it handy.. Lol...
Thanks @eurogee, always helpful.

Hahahahahsh welcome dear

This is captivating!
Am new here..
Please kindly upvote my post!
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@anthonio/introducing-anthonio