By Tim Binnall
Ranchers in Oregon are once again being advised to keep a close eye on their cattle following a pair of peculiar incidents this past month wherein bulls were found mysteriously mutilated. The two separate cases are the latest in what has been a series of strange slayings in the state over the last few years. According to a local media report, the most recent downed animal was discovered on August 14th on a ranch in Oregon's Wheeler County. Believed to have been killed around three days earlier, the Black Angus bull was missing its nose, tongue, reproductive organs, ear, eye, and left cheek as well as part of its tail. Chillingly, those pieces of the poor creature were said to have been removed by way of curiously clean cuts.
Since the bull had been found more than 24 hours after its demise, authorities were unable to perform a necropsy on the animal, which was valued at a whopping $4,500, to potentially glean more information on how it was killed. Ranch owner Tanner Brown, who counted the creature among his 600 cattle, was understandably bewildered by the eerie turn of events, musing that "it's kind of a strange thing" and acknowledging that he was not alone in having experienced the unsettling phenomenon. To that end, Brown's downed animal came on the heels of another incident in nearby Harney County in which another bull was killed under similar circumstances in late July.
Oregon has been particularly hard hit by the cattle mutilation phenomenon in recent years with five cases occurring in Wheeler County, another five reported in Harney County, and three cases in Crook County which made news back in March. With all of the reports, authorities remain baffled by the killings as scenes of the strange slaughters feature no tangible clues nor blood from the downed animals nor any indication of how exactly they were initially subdued. While the police departments in both Wheeler and Harney County plan to continue investigating, they've also issued bulletins warning ranchers to remain vigilant since the unnerving killing spree seems to be showing no signs of coming to an end any time soon.