Lightning on Sunday night struck and killed two buffalo cows and three buffalo calves, including a white buffalo-Miracle's Second Chance-on the Heider farm south of Janesville, Dave Heider said this morning.

Heider discovered the five dead buffalo when he went to check on the animals this morning before going to work.

The white calf's mother was walking around and grunting, so Heider followed her up the hill where he found the five dead buffalo with burn marks laying near a tree.

He thinks it was one lightning strike that hit all five and the nearby tree.

The farm became a destination for thousands of visitors after Miracle, a female white buffalo, was born there on Aug. 20, 1994. In 1995, visitors to the Heider farm increased tourism to Rock County by 22 percent.

White buffalo are extremel y rare and are said to fulfill a Native American legend foretelling peace.