OurStory

Bizarre calf mutilations found in Colorado
By The Associated Press
November 27, 2009

SAN LUIS, Colo. — A creepy string of calf mutilations in southern Colorado has a rancher and sheriff’s officials mystified.
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Four calves were found dead in a pasture just north of the New Mexico state line in recent weeks. The dead calves had their skins peeled back and organs cleared from the rib cage. One calf had its tongue removed.

But rancher Manuel Sanchez has found no signs of human attackers, such as footprints or ATV tracks. And there are no signs of an animal attack by a coyote or mountain lion. Usually predators leave pools of blood or drag marks from carrying away the livestock.

Two officers from the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office have investigated the mutilations but say they don’t know what’s killing the calves.

"There’s nothing really to go by,” said Sanchez, who’s ranched for nearly 50 years.

"I can’t figure it out.”

A spokesman for the sheriff’s office told The Pueblo Chieftain that investigators doubt a person butchered the calves because there is no blood at the scene.

"I’ve butchered a cow before, and I know what kind of a mess it leaves,” Sgt. James Chavez said.

Some in the area believe the mutilations are the work of aliens.

"We’re trying as much as we can to find a pattern,” said Zukowski, who runs a UFO Web site.