Bull's bid to scratch 'itchy bum' cuts off power to 800 homes

 Bull's bid for 'itchy bum scratch' cuts power to 800 homes

Ron, four years old, was able to dodge the box when it fell into his field. He also managed to escape an 11,000-volt shock from the tumbling cables.

However, it left three South Lanarkshire villages without electricity.

Hazel Laughton, Ron's owner, told BBC Scotland that she was shocked Ron survived.

According to some reports, Ron, a limousin-bull, brought down the transformer sometime between 22:00 on Thursday and 23:00 on Friday at East Shawtonhill Farm near Chapelton.

Mrs Laughton, along with her husband Greg, owns the farm. She stated that power was not restored in the local area until Friday morning at 04:00.

The consultant explained that he saw a generator at the bottom end of his road. All connected to the poles. It was strange to us.

"We went up for our cows to feed them, and it wasn't my husband that saw the transformer box was missing from the pole.

"We added two and two together, and realized that our bull had been scratching against a telegraph pole, and had knocked off the box from the pole. All wires were in the field.

Ron joined them as the couple assessed the damage.

Ms Laughton stated that the bull walked up to the fence sheepishly while we were looking at it. He seemed a little stunned. I doubt he knew what happened the night before.

SP Energy Networks engineers informed Ron and his wife that he had turned off power to 800 homes around Chapelton, Strathaven, and Glassford.

Mrs Laughton attempted to make things better by posting Ron's apology via the Facebook group.

She wrote: "He was itchy so he scratched his bum on the electricity pole, and knocked off the transformer."

She called the response to her posting, in which Sparky was also suggested, "unbelievable".

She said that bulls are not uncommon to want a good scratch even though they still have their winter coats on.

Mrs Laughton stated that the dogs are always itchy after they go out. Ron, who weighs in excess of a tonne, has been rubbing and pushing against the pole to just get it off.

"We have seen them swaddle the wires before but for the box not to come off it is totally new,"

Celebrity

Ron's destruction shocked even the engineers who came to fix it.

Mrs Laughton stated that although they said they had seen bulls scratch poles or crack them, they have never seen a bull take the pole off like he did.

"He will lose his scratch pole, so we have to fence it off right now so he cannot get to it."

Ron, on the other hand, has been enjoying the day out in the field, unafraid of his celebrity encounters and death. Pick 3 Box Scratch Games