Texas authorities are investigating the mysterious death of six cattle in a region northeast of Austin along State Highway OSR.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office posted about the deaths on Facebook, saying that the investigation began when a rancher reported that a “6-year-old longhorn-cross cow had been found lying on her side, deceased, and mutilated.”
The grisly description of the scene made it clear there was nothing accidental about the condition of the dead animal.
“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 tongue was also completely removed from the body with no blood spill,” the post said.
Adding to the mystery was that “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 post said.
Even stranger, nothing ate the remains of the animal, “leaving it to decay untouched for several weeks.”
As the investigation continued, the department said that five other cattle deaths were reported along the highway in Brazos County and Robertson County.
Noting the separate herds were victimized, the post said there was a commonality among the dead animals.
“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 post said.
“On two of the five cows, a circular cut was made removing the anus and the external genitalia. This circular cut was made with the same precision as the cuts noted around the jaw lines of each cow,” the post said.
The post said that once again, there were no tracks near the animals and that the carcasses were left alone by scavengers.
The post said that the animals’ cause of death is not known.
Mysterious attacks on animals have taken place before.
In October, according to the New York Post, dozens of cattle in Colorado were killed by what appeared to be a predator, although no tracks of one were found.
In 2019, five bulls were killed in eastern Oregon, according to the Associated Press.
A report in The New York Times noted that in the 1970s, nearly 200 dead cows in multiple states were reported in a series of deaths in which the sex organs and tongues of the animals were taken.
The report said that no conclusion was ever reached as to how the animals were killed or who did the killing.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
