When I was perusing the net about the drugs we use out at the wildlife sanctuary where I work I came across this really weird story.....anybody seen this before? I mean I've heard of this stuff but never seen an animal that survived this kind of thing...

http://216.128.67.116/pdf/newmexico.pdf

-Janice

Link not working?

It's working...you just have to wait a while for the PDF to load....the whole story is in a pdf with pictures and everything....it is all about this calf they found mutilated in New Mexico but this one was left alive but missing it's ears and had some mouth sores. The ears were taken off at the base....and I read carefully that they ears looked cut off....not chewed or ripped....the poor calf looks in a horrible state...awful....but they did all kinds of analysis too....is interesting if you wait for it to come up.....pdfs are always slow loading on my machine too..

-Janice

ooohhh man, i wish i hadnt have looked at that.

interesting. i didnt (couldnt) read the whole report. is this the first time they've found a mutilated one still alive?

gael

OK, got it. That is a tough call. I did see a piece once on cattle mutilation, & it was explained in some detail that the different lifestages of the blowfly (I'm pretty sure) were responsible for the various effects seen. It made perfect sense when presented that way, but wasn't what the first impression would suggest. Just FYI, I suppose, & may or may not be relevant to this story.

If you have a chance, examine a cow that has survived an attack by coyotes or feral dogs. The ears are the first to go. The mouth and snout area are also prone to injury. And, you probably won't find any bites or injury to the hind legs. In short, they look like this cow. Ditto for deer that suffer the same kind of attack and survive.

I read the article and found it to be rather sensationalistic in that they immediately assume this animal to be the victim of some unnatural mutilation and subsequent medical condition. The fact that the cow was suffering from MCF means nothing. Quite often, it is mistaken for anthrax. Broadleaf herbicides being applied in the area is also insignificant. And, it is not unusual for the animal to die later on, even after its condition appears to improve.

I found the following statement by the "investigators" absolutley hilarious:

"Catching the animal in a wild environment, encompassing several thousand acres of brush, even if the animal is not in best physical condition, is very problematic. It would require several skilled people deployed on the property, which would involve the risk of being noticed by the owner and of leaving tracks."

Definitely no cowboys in this bunch. My fifty-cents says you could probably walk right up to that cow and put a rope around it anyday. With an ear of corn in my hand, I KNOW I could. However, this is no voodoo cow manipulation by devil worshippers or UFO pilots.

"Field investigators" eh?

Okay well first thing I thought being of practical and logical mind was "predators" but then why would a hungry predator just eat the ears and then leave the rest? Is it an Atkins thing??

This calf doesn't look like it could defend itself much...
I would think predators woulda eaten the whole calf....or at least part of it...and usually don't predators go for the achilles tendon to disable the animal and then the throat?? or the back of the neck...I dunno...it's just weird...

I've seen a lot of pics of "classic" cattle mutilation, and what
usually stands out is the crisp edges of the cuts.

On this cow the pics aren't clear enough to tell if those
are clean cuts or tears. If the edges are torn, I'd say
dogs (maybe coyotes, big animal for them though).
No mention of any bite marks anywhere else on the
animal, I wonder about that as well.

I don't think this falls into the pattern of "classic" cases.

Gonna have to go with Steve on this one.

It rings with the typcal alarmist / sensationalist angle.

Hope it didnt cough up a cud ball {{{runs for cover}}}}

interesting, but I think the calf just got in an unfortunate accident, perhaps he got his head somehow stuck between the wires of a barbed-wire fence and ripped his ears up in his struggle to get free, and was attacked by files and coyotes or other predators afterward which pretty much ripped his ears off. I can't see any sort of predator attacking the calf when it was healthy, and even if one did why would it go after the ears? why not the throat and bring the animal down? dosen't make sense for any predator to do that.

They didn't eat it because they couldn't kill it. It was able to escape, or hold off its attackers long enough until the rest of the herd got there to defend it. Coyotes usually go for the snout/ears first when they attack a cow. They know that's the only place they can do it immediate damage and hope to bring it down. They probably ate the ears the minute they tore them off. Ears come off easy.



Cowhide is pretty tough. I've seen coyote attacks where not a mark broke the skin on the back legs of the cow. This was a two-year old Charlais. Probably in the neighborhood of 700 lbs.

Interesting points Steve. I don't know how many of you heard about the cougar attacks last night in SoCal. But, this cougar apperantly killed on man on his bike and attacked another lady, dragging her 100yards. The lady had a partner that was trying to help and was dragged along.

What I'm getting at is, that the cougar attacked from behind, but procedeed to latch onto the face. I assume the same happened to the man that was killed. So, Steve's point about a predator attacking the face matches this case.

BB

When I lived on an 80 acre cattle farm in Texas, I saw many a coyote attack on the calves (BUT, only if they were away from the herd). And yes, they usually attack the facial area, I've also seen them try for the tails also.

I've also seen young and old cows alike get their heads stuck in fencing!

BUT, I've never seen anything come of it that looked like that picture! Usually just some scratches and missing hair. I have no idea what so ever, of what could've caused the degree of mutiliation on that calf.

And this is "just my opinion", but in the reports I've read about BF attacking animals.........usually isn't there a broken limb, or the innards being removed? I'm not stating that this isn't a BF related attack, I'm just voicing my opinion on this one instead of lurking!!!

I must say East Texas Steve is right on on this one (IMHO). Someone mentioned that mountain lion. I have been extremely freaked out by that mountain lion attack. It was on a trail I used to frequent alot when I lived near there. I still go there sometimes on weekends to run. Its a very wild place with lots of deer and not many people. What really freaks me out is that my brother told me he saw mountain lion tracks there and he told me that two days before the attacks and it was right where the attack occured. He went for a walk on that trail the same day as the attack also so I guess he was pretty lucky. He probably walked right by that crazy cat. The mountain lions are really unafraid around here. I have had 3 encounters with them. It was a time bomb waiting to happen.

This is obviously the work of the japanese.
It's a classic case of the controversial practice of "Earing", where the japs catch the calves and take the ears off, for soup, then throw the calf back.

That's sick, and, no, you are not funny.

I heard about them. It happens on occassion wherever wild animals are "overprotected." I have also read accounts of coyotes attempting to drag young children off in the California 'burbs. Once again, for the same reason: No fear of man.

Like it or not, you are part of the food chain. You can be the one who does the killing, or you can choose to passively sit back and be the one who gets killed. One way or the other, you will be forced to make that choice if you spend enough time in the outdoors.



Different predators attack different prey in different ways. A cougar will attack livestock from behind. But, once it gets the upper hand, it will move for the throat/neck/head area to make the kill. Coyotes can't physically drag down a cow. However, they can eventually disable it to the point where it will give up to its attackers.

Oh yes verrrrrrry sick, verrry sick. Ranks up there with cat juggling.
Wow, 1 post back from 10 months away and I've already upset some thin skinned to serious for their own good person.
Is there an ignor button so "chewy" can go ahead and put me on permenant ignore, I don't think this guy's gonna like me very much.

Poor animal and what it must of suffered. Humans as it would suggest?
I would almost bet it was!



Jim Keith has a book on Cattle Mulilation. Its a Very good read.

Belle

sort of, but they do have signs posted all over that area which specifically state you're in mountain lion territory. (Not that there was anything the lady or man could have done differently, but it's not as if they were entering that environment without knowing the potential danger.)

I don't think "overprotected" as much as it's caused by excessive human encroachment on what was once wilderness. The animals have nowhere else to go once their natural habitat is dwindled down. Their own natural food supply gets ruined and so they're just doing what they have to do to survive.



So true! When people want to go out and play in the wilderness then they have to realize that these dangers are out there and attacks are going to happen.

Jim Z, that's pretty darn scary about your brother seeing tracks in that area just days before those people were attacked! I'm glad he's okay. I worry about them, too, just being up in the CA foothills when I'm gold panning. It's always best to go into the outdoors with several people around you these days. Especially in California where there has been so much human encroachment on the land pushing the animals to desperation. I don't blame the animals trying to survive but it makes trying to enjoy the outdoors a little more nerve-wracking.

I agree that contact with humans plays a part in it, but contact with humans doesn't remove the fear from the animal. What removes the fear from the animal is the non-threatening attitude of the humans in the area. Cougars will normally avoid human contact. However, when they no longer have nothing to fear from humans, then they start to consider us a food source. Cougars feed on bugs, lizards, fish, birds, rodents, small mammals, and deer. There's plenty to eat out there besides us.