Six cattle were found with their tongues cut out with great precision, leaving authorities are baffled.
Ranchers in Texas were first informed that a six-year-old longhorn-cross cow was discovered dead on her side and mutilated.
‘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,’ wrote the Madison County Sheriff’s Office on Facebook on Wednesday.
‘The tongue was also completely removed from the body with no blood spill.
‘It was noted there were no signs of struggle and the grass around the cow was undisturbed. No footprints or tire tracks were noted in the area.’
The remains were untouched and decayed for weeks, with no predators or birds scavenging them.
There were five similar longhorn-cross deaths involving four adults and one yearling along State Highway OSR from Brazos County to Robertson County.
Though the attacks happened in different locations, the cows were all found ‘lying on one side with the exposed side of their face cut along the jaw line and the tongue, once again, completely removed’, stated the sheriff’s office.
‘On two of the five cows, a circular cut was made removing the anus and the external genitalia,’ the office wrote. ‘This circular cut was made with the same precision as the cuts noted around the jaw lines of each cow.’
In each of the cases, there was no blood spillage, tracks or signs of a struggle in the turf, and no scavengers.
The cause of death in all six cases is still unknown.
‘Multiple similar incidents have been reported across the United States and we are actively coordinating with other agencies to find answers,’ stated the sheriff’s office.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff’s office.
The mysterious deaths come weeks after an explosion at South Fork Dairy farm near Dimmitt killed 18,000 cows. It is the worst known cattle death incident in US history.
