San Luis Cattle Mutilation 11/09/10
On Friday November 12th I was contacted by the daughter of a rancher from the little town of San Luis, Colorado.
“Hi Chuck…
How are you? We are all doing fine. Well, just as an FYI. My Dad just called me and told me there was another cattle mutilation about a quarter of a mile from his house. The cow belongs to someone else and happened a couple of days ago. It was right about this time last year for my Dad.”
Last year’s case she was referring to was the Sanchez mutilation in which her father lost four calves within three weeks. The fourth calf was the one I investigated on November 16th, 2009. This year almost within a week of that mutilation, another one occurred. This animal was found by Sanchez within yards of his herd. The animal lay lifeless near a small fence paralleling a small county road. No signs of animal attacks were seen and no signs of massive blood pooling were noticed near the animal. Owned by another rancher, Sanchez was reluctant to closely inspect the animal but did recognize the unusual incisions related to a cattle mutilation phenomenon.
My introduction into this case started on the 12th, but due to work commitments I was unable to drive out to the site until my day off, Saturday November 20th. San Luis is close to three hours from my house so this is an investigation which consumes a good part of the day. I left my cell number earlier in the week with the rancher, but he never returned my call.
Now I was struggling with the decision to make the long trip or just pass on this one. I knew by the time I got out to the mutilation site the chances were good the animal would have been destroyed. And that unfortunately was the case.
The owner of the animal moved and burned the carcass two days before I could get down and see it. I understand these are the chances investigators take, sort of a crapshoot; but I still decided to make the drive and if I had to, would initiate my back-up plan. You always have a back-up plan. Well it always seems to work on TV.
Going out to the site and initiating my back up plan, achieved a couple of things for me.
I interviewed the rancher who found the animal.
I interviewed the owner of the animal.
I spoke with surrounding neighbors.
I went out to the site, and ran EMF readings looking for anomalies.
I checked the site for traces of radiation.
I got GPS coordinates to compare with other investigations looking for a pattern.
I did a visual examination of the vegetation near the mutilation site looking for unusual markings.
I did a visual examination of nearby animal characteristics. (ie., other cows and pets)
I also worked on building confidence within the ranching community about my intentions investigating their animals.
Interview with Rancher Sanchez, third generation cow rancher:
He found the animal on Thursday November 11th.
Based on his experience, the animal had been dead since Tuesday, November 9th.
The animal appeared to be around five years old, female, and estimated 800 pounds.
Animal was laying on its right side with the body facing toward the West.
Tongue appeared missing.
Udder was cut off but remaining muscle lining was untouched.
Anal area was cored out in a circular pattern.
No signs of a predator attack were near the carcass.
No signs of massive blood loss from an animal as large as this one.
No signs of scavenger damage or debris.
Weather was cool, within the 40’s during the week of mutilation.
Note: Rancher Sanchez has lost multiple animals due to mutilations throughout the years. One in the late 1970’s, one in 2006, and four in 2009. He therefore is very familiar with what appears to be a mutilation case, or unknown death due to unusual cuts. Remember as I stated, this gentleman is a third generation cattle rancher and knows his job; “Cattle Ranching”.
Interview with Rancher (name on file) owner of the mutilated cow.
Rancher preferred his name not to be mentioned:
Rancher was out of town and was contacted when his cow was found mutilated.
He agreed with Sanchez’s estimation on weight, age, and gender.
Animal was laying on its right side when he saw it.
Tongue was missing.
Udder was cut out.
Anal area was removed.
No signs the animal struggled to stay alive or fight off an attacker.
No signs of large amounts of blood due to a known predator kill.
No signs of scavenger evidence, which the rancher thought very peculiar.
Note: Both the rancher and his ranch hand agreed with Sanchez that the animal’s condition was unlike anything they would expect to see with a normal cow death. They absolutely believe the animal was mutilated with strange precise cuts.
Interviewing the owner of the cow was a bit challenging for me. He was a difficult man to speak with. It took patience and a lot of “bite your tongue-ing” to get the information I needed. Unfortunately due to past mutilation cases getting bad press and ranchers being made fun of, he was very reluctant to speak with me.
This is a major problem investigators face. Some media reporters from TV news or news papers, address these mutilations with low importance and sometimes even ridicule. These unprofessional and immature actions trickle down to the feelings of the ranchers and therefore some mutilation attacks we never get to hear about. The ones we do get to hear about, some ranchers are reluctant to speak with us about. Then again, we get lucky and some ranchers are eager to speak with us and help us get the evidence we’re looking for to try and solve this phenomenon.
This particular case, like many other cases, is very unique. This mutilation occurred within a week of last year’s mutilation in the same area. The animal was found only yards away from rancher Sanchez’s herd, which was hit last year. This made him wonder, “Was the mutilation intended for his herd?”
Note: Here’s a theory to ponder. Are mutilations occurring due to a particular location or a particular rancher? Many ranchers have been hit multiple times. Rancher Sanchez has been hit at least seven times throughout the years. Is it the terrain or is it the conditions set forth by certain ranchers? What is so interesting about certain ranchers and certain locations which cause mutilations to occur? These are the questions we are trying to address.
My brief investigation yielded no unusual EMF readings nor was radiation detected. The ground around the animal showed no signs of an animal struggle and no signs of massive blood loss. After talking with local residents, these mutilations are not uncommon to them. Two and three generation ranchers residing in the oldest city in Colorado have seen this before. Some ranchers absolutely believe mutilations to be alien related, some believe them to be military related, and some believe them to be the work of the dreaded Chupacabra.
The Chupacabra from chupar “to suck” and cabra “goat”, means “goat sucker”. This is a legendary creature which inhabits parts of the Americas. It’s been associated with killings from Puerto Rico, to Mexico, to the United States. Some residents of San Luis believe it has ventured into southern Colorado.
For every case I work on, I get a little closer to fully understanding what the ranchers are going through. It’s so easy for people to sit back and make judgment calls about something they really know nothing about. We seem to be very good at giving opinions but not very good at helping to find solutions. I’ve personally seen the fear in the family’s faces, the sorrow of a man when looking down at a mutilated calf, and the outrage of a rancher when his animal’s death is not taken seriously. These ranchers are a proud, hard working breed of human ingenuity, and this country would not be what it is today if it wasn’t for individuals like these. Colonist’s and settlers paved the way for us by farming and ranching and this became our country’s corner stone. It’s time to give back by giving them the support they need when trying to address this very strange and unusual phenomenon: The phenomenon of animal mutilations.
Category: Cattle Mutilations, The Z-Files
