Authorities are baffled by a recent mystery that has occurred among cattle herds along the same Texas highway: Several dead cows, with select body parts missing.
After the unexpected death of a cow in Madison County – near College Station and about 100 miles north of Houston – the local sheriff’s office has confirmed that an investigation is underway to determine what’s behind a series of similar cow deaths along Texas State Highway OSR.
According to a release from the sheriff’s office, the 6-year-old cow was found dead, lying on its side and missing its tongue.
“A straight, clean cut, with apparent precision, had been made to remove the hide around the cow’s mouth on one side, leaving the meat under the removed hide untouched,” the news release stated. “The tongue was also completely removed from the body with no blood spill.”
Law enforcement further stated there were no signs of struggle or tracks, adding that the grass surrounding the deceased animal was “undisturbed.” Ranchers had also reported to officials that the cow was left to decay, for several weeks, with no interest from predators or birds to scavenge its remains.
Spotted lanternfly eggs hatching soon:‘Eliminate’ them before they spread, officials say
See photos:Glowing spiral resembling a portal to a new galaxy dazzles in the Alaskan night sky
Five similar incidents
During their investigation of the local cow’s death, Madison County authorities discovered five similar incidents in the bordering Brazos and Robertson counties, each from different herds and pastures.
“The other cows were found in the same condition, lying on one side with the exposed side of their face cut along the jaw line and the tongue, once again, completely removed,” the release from Madison County Sheriff’s Office states.
Two of the cows had their genitalia and anuses removed, though they had the same “circular cut” with the “same precision” as the cuts noted around the jaw lines of the others.
Akin to the first, there were no signs of struggle or disturbance in nearby grass, and the cause of their deaths remain unknown. Similar incidents have occurred across the country, authorities stated, and they are “actively coordinating with other agencies to find answers.”
Past occurrences of strange cattle deaths
A similar string of events took place in the 1970s: thousands of cattle were found dead with their bodies mutilated and parts cleanly removed from their carcasses without any trace of struggle or disturbance.
“Since April in Colorado alone,” 196 cows were found in such a state, The New York Times reported in October 1975. A buffalo, a horse and a goat had also found their demise in the same disturbing scenario, archives show.
While a number of investigations took place, evidence never turned up and it seems an answer wasn’t found. In 1980, the FBI had closed its investigation and attributed the unexpected deaths to “common predators.”
Similarly, Alaska Public Media reported last year that state troopers were looking into a cow mutilation and the disappearance of two others. Also, in 2019, a bull in Oregon was discovered with its sex organs and tongue removed, with “all the blood gone,” according to the Associated Press.
There was no evidence that it had been shot, attacked by predators, or eaten anything toxic, and within the next few days, four additional Hereford bulls were found in the same condition within 1.5 miles of one another.
As with the incidents that took place nearly 50 years ago, many have come up with their own theories of the deaths. Some speculated scavengers like carrion bugs; others speculated it was people attacking the animals to cause financial harm to ranchers.
At the time, Colby Marshall – vice president of the Silvies Valley Ranch that had owned the five bulls in Seneca, Oregon – told the AP that they believed the crimes were “perpetuated by some sort of cult.”
“To lose a completely healthy animal would be an oddity,” Marshall told the AP in 2019. “To lose five young, very healthy, in great shape bulls that are all basically the same age … that is so outside the bounds of normal activity.”