At Least 25 Cows Found Dead, near Colorado Springs, Co.
Update 01/26/21
Lab results came back and elevated levels of nitrates were found in at least one bale of hay eaten by the cattle, Dr. John Heikkila of Choice Veterinary Service said. If cattle ingest feed containing very high levels of nitrates, it can interfere with the oxygen-carrying capacity of the animal’s blood. In severe cases, the blood may be unable to carry enough oxygen throughout the animal, causing death.
Note: This is just a theory because I have not seen the results of a necropsy which would confirm this. Since at least one bale of hay had high levels of nitrates, the odds that other bales of hay would also have high nitrates were also eaten by the rest of the livestock which survived. Since the Brand Inspector has not returned my calls addressing this, one has to assume there may be a cover-up explaining cause of death, or just a simple, “I don’t know”.
[ This update originated from the Colorado Springs, Gazette. ]
On December 22nd, 2020, multiple drivers passing by on Highway 94 near Schriever AFB, noticed numerous dead cows lying in a field visible from the highway. Horrified from what they saw, some motorists contacted local news channels KKTV 11 news in Colorado Springs, and Channel 9 News in Denver.
NBC 9 News in Denver broke the story on 3:39pm and KKTV News followed up at 5:16pm. When I heard about the dead cows and their general location, I immediately ventured out to that area. The dead animals were no where to be found and had obviously been removed, but I needed to make sure I found the exact location. An email I received a little later fixed that.
With Christmas being right around the corner, it was difficult to run an investigation due to my schedule and schedules of people I wanted to speak with. I was able to contact Jacqueline Kirby at the Public Information Office with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, and she stated no case report was created due to no evidence of animal injury. In other words, the dead cows showed no signs of cause of death. There was no evidence of animal cruelty or predator damage, it appeared the animals just died. I was also told a local veterinarian was called to the site.
I was then able to contact the Colorado Springs Brand Inspector. The Brand Inspector keeps track of livestock in his district. He would document the different brands, determine ownership, issue inspection certificates for legal sale, transport or slaughter, and work with animal health authorities insuring vaccination of animals. He would also keep track of those ranches which have related deaths pertaining to possible diseases.
The Brand Inspector also told me samples of the animals as well as the feed they were eating were sent to a lab for analysis. As of the writing of this blog, no lab results have been completed and returned to the rancher or authorities.
On 12/24/2020 at 5:17pm, I received an email from Caleb Swiler who informed me he had video and pictures of the dead cows. After a couple of email conversations, I contacted Caleb and interviewed him. He told me he had heard about the animals on the news in Denver and traveled to Colorado Springs to look for them. Based on the Denver news report which mentioned the cross streets of Highway 94 near North Curtis Road, within 30 minutes he was able to locate them.
The dead carcasses were still there.
Caleb’s pictures are the only pictures I’ve seen of the animals. KKTV 11 News had blurred them out of their report.
Caleb stated in the interview, that the animals showed no signs of injuries, no signs of struggling and appeared to have just laid down and died peacefully. He also stated he saw some cows huddled up together about 100 yards away from where he was standing that looked ok. He also said it looked like the rancher was able to get some of the other cows into a corral near the ranch house.
Caleb went back to the location again a couple of days later and noticed the animal carcasses were gone. That was probably within the same time frame I was there.
When I went back to the empty field with my wife Tammy, we used the pictures that Caleb had sent me to see exactly where the animals were lying.
We also saw the remains of an old skeleton that was in one of Caleb’s photos, which definitely told me predators had been familiar with this area.
One of the things my wife and I noticed was an electric wire running across the field in the exact location of the dead animals.
Ranchers use electric wires to keep animals out of certain areas. Some ranchers put an electric wire on corral doors to keep the horses from gnawing on the wood.
Rancher’s electric wires are DC (direct current) and very low voltage as to not harm the animals. Generally a feed in wire is AC (alternating current) and stepped-down and converted to DC for these applications. One thought is, could a step down transformer from AC to DC shorted causing a live 110 volt 20 amp wire to exist lying on a wet ground?
El Paso County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Office stated the cows showed no signs of electrocution but electric shocks can also cause serious injuries that are not always visible, so until the veterinarian results go public, I want to keep that option on the table.
It doesn’t seem plausible that the animals died from their feed, water or virus due to the large amount of surviving cows on that ranch. I visited the area yesterday and saw grazing cows just on the other side of the fenced area the initial cows were found dead. But the rancher at this time has kept the rest of his herd out of what I call, “the dead zone”.
Until the lab results are released, at this time it’s only speculation how the animals died. But back in 2018 I ran an investigation in Westcliffe Colorado about multiple animals dying. What ever killed those animals jumped species. There were horses, cows, pigs, and even Elk found dead. That investigation was on one of my Alien Highway episodes, and still unanswered.
When I learn more about these cow deaths, I’ll release that info on this site, but for right now, those animals died mysteriously.
I’d like to thank Caleb Swiler, a young and very determined individual who strives looking for answers to very difficult questions. Caleb posted his initial video footage of the dead animals for the public to see.
Here’s his link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztZFXf2_3oM&feature=youtu.be
If Caleb continues on this path, he will no doubt become one hell of an investigator which you’ll hear more of.
As for strange animal deaths? One can only speculate why, until those hard questions are answered.
Links to the news sites:
KKTV 11 News Colorado Springs
https://www.kktv.com/2020/12/23/dozens-of-dead-cows-found-in-el-paso-county-investigation-underway/
9 News, Denver
https://www.9news.com/article/news/weird/mystery-cattle-found-dead-el-paso-county/73-9e1eceaf-aee2-4255-a0aa-31dfe44680fc
Category: The Z-Files
