Dave: Thanks for the Email. Your question; " Why does a person, or animal, making contact with only one conductor not get electrocuted?"
My answer is; " There has to be a complete closed circuit from a voltage source through the person, animal, or object".
There is an old story; A new apprentice was working for an old timer journeyman. The journeyman informed the apprentice that he was splicing some wires while they were energized. He also said "don't ever do this the way I am doing, stand back and wait". The apprentice noticed the journeyman would lift his left foot, and touch the live wires while he twisted them. The apprentice thought, this is easy, I can do that. He went over to an outlet, lifted his left foot, grabbed the live wire, and was knocked to the floor. The journeyman picked him up, and showed him his plastic artificial right foot.
