Cattle Mutilations: Who or What is the Culprit?

By M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
Reports of cattle mutilations date back for years, the latest occurred in Texas.

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Cattle Depredation guide (Source - TheFencePost)

Ranchers in Texas are left scratching their heads after six cattle were found dead with the tongues "completely removed". Strangest of all there was no blood spilled around the carcasses.

The Madison County Sheriff's office were investigating the mutilation and death of cattle along State Highway OSR (OSR). This route is the Old San Antonio Road in east-central Texas.

A 6-year-old longhorn-cross cow was found on a ranch. The sheriff's office siad, "A straight, clean cut, with apparent precision, had been made to remove the hide around the cow’s mouth on one side, leaving the meat under the removed hide untouched. The tongue was also completely removed from the body with no blood spill."

During the investigation five other similar killings took place of four adult cows and one yearling, also along the area of OSR, in Brazos and Robertson counties.

The sheriff said, "The other cows were found in the same condition, lying on one side with the exposed side of their face cut along the jaw line and the tongue, once again, completely removed. On two of the five cows, a circular cut was made removing the anus and the external genitalia. This circular cut was made with the same precision as the cuts noted around the jaw lines of each cow."

The cause of death remains unknown.

Like in many scenes of cattle mutilations, the area around the animals was undisturbed. No footprints, tire tracks or signs of struggle were found. Predators and birds stayed away from the carcasses, where they rotted away for several weeks.

In 1979, the FBI launched an investigation into similar events in New Mexico.  Operation Animal Mutilation concluded that the mysterious deaths of livestock animals killed in similar fashion to those seen recently in Texas were a result of natural predation.

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Missouri cattle mutilation c.2013

In the fall of 2022, 18 cows were found outside the town of Meeker, Colorado. Some had signs of being killed by an animal like a wolf, but there were no tracks or evidence of predators in the area. A month later at least 40 calves were reported dead. Prior to October 2022 there were eight officially reported wolf sightings in the area over the last few years. 

Pathology reports issued by veterinary labs confirmed there was no evidence of disease.

Since many believe that it would be impossible for humans to have mutilated these cattle in such a manner, in the middle of nowhere, suspicions turned to otherworldly beings.

Eli Hronich a New Mexico rancher has found mutilated cattle 40 times throughout a 30 year career. Discoveries like his have been found in ranches across the United States in the last 50 years, hitting a peak in the 1970s.

​The missing body parts don't have value, weather it's ears, tongues, udders, brains, eyes or genitals. 

As reported by High Plains Journal:

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Sometimes their bodies are drained of blood, bones are broken, scavengers avoid the carcasses and a medicinal smell is reported at some kill sites. Additionally, some animals have been found to have strange substances in their blood, such as barbiturates, mescaline, anti-coagulates and potassium cyanide. Possible explanations for these mutilations fall into several categories. Many believe they are either due to predators, government experiments, satanic cults or extraterrestrials. Now putting those four in the same sentence is shocking, but so are the nature of these deaths.

Extraterrestrials are the usual suspects in cattle mutilations, but are they the only ones?

Aliens and covert government programs have received coverage throughout the years. But's let jump down the rabbit hole of humans committing these atrocities. Initially the cult aspect is discounted because of the difficulty in carrying out the operation, and if the aim is to use a cow's tongue, why not buy it at a butcher shop. This suspicion wouldn't account for these incidents, but as found in the necropsy reports, some of these animals appear to be drugged, and in some cult beliefs, the suffering of an animal will give power to the potency of the spell it will be used for.

How widespread is this belief? More than you would suspect.

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Noriega, one time dictator of Panama

In 1989, U.S. forces entered the home of General Noriega, deposed dictator of Panama. The first thing that assailed them was the horrid stench that drifted from the second floor.

They found a rotting cow's tongue, wrapped in red cloth folded in half and nailed shut with over two dozen nails, nested in white cornmeal and eight rotting eggs. Insects had overrun the putrid mess.

A special agent with the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, pried open the tongue to find a soggy paper with a name written on it. The writing could not be deciphered but other items found in the home confirmed that it was part of a voodoo-like ritual targeting one of Noriega's enemies. The property became known as the "witch house".

Further investigation found that Noriega used a Brazilian, black magic witch to cast spells against his enemies, and to assure his victories. Some of his strange actions would later be attributed to his belief in these occult rituals.

In an effort to find evidence of drug trafficking, a search continued in Noriega's house close to the military base of Fort Amador. Inside a freezer they found banana leaves wrapped around white powder, first believed to be cocaine. That turned out to be wrong, and the second assumption that they were tamales was wrong as well.

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Description of what was found in Noreiga's properties c.1990 (Source - The Gazette)

An agent from the Army's Criminal Investigation Command came to the conclusion they were part of binding rituals, in which each "tamale" represented one of Noriega's enemies, which he thought to defeat through sorcery.

Inside the the banana leaves were slips of paper with the name of his opponents. Among the names found was Seymour Hersh, a reporter who wrote about Noriega's illegal activities and John Poindexter, Reagan's national security adviser.

Inside a slimy ball of cornmeal entwined with blue ribbon, and white string was a picture of Guillermo Endara, who was running against Noriega in the presidential election.

Red wax was dripped over a picture of President Reagan before an ashtray was placed on top of it.

A mixture of moldy fruit held papers with the names of various important American politicians and officials, as well as those of other countries.

An expert on the occult determined that Noriega practiced a mixture of African-based religions, and Catholicism. This included belief systems such as santeria, candomble and a darker form known as brujeria.

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Diary of Noreiga's witch examined for clues c.1990 (Source - The Miami Herald)

When Noriega was indicted by federal grand juries in Florida, Panamanians demonstrated against him, and Noriega disappeared. The witch prudently disappeared from the scene as well.

Later it was determine that the Noriega's witch had fled the house only steps ahead of U.S. troops, forcing her to leave behind important papers and photos that proved her identity. This included her diary.

Her name was Rosileide dos Gracias Oliveira, born around 1962. Pictures of the plump, dark-skinned woman adorned Noriega's home and office. She also left behind pictures of her husband and son. Her personal manual of spells titled "Exu" was found. The title translates to the devil which must be propitiated at the beginning of candomble ceremonies so that the rites will not be disrupted by him.

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Guards arriving at Isla Coiba (Source - Smithsonian Institution / WikiMedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0)

In the diary she detailed resisting Noriega's drunken sexual advances, as well as a visit, two days before the American invasion to Isla Coiba, a notorious penal colony. The diary did not explain what she did there on her visit.

Present day Isla Coiba is unpopulated, but established in 1919, Panama's worse criminals or enemies of military regimes were sent there. It served the purpose of a concentation camp as well. Panama does not have the death penalty, and the longest sentence was 20 years, which in reality was a death sentence since the prison was so brutal, most inmates did not survive. They would be taken there twice per month by boat from Puerto Mutis, Veraguas.

There are 30 buildings, and at its peak 3,000 prisoners were kept there. There was a church, a small clinic and several compounds. The prisoners worked small farms for sustenance. They were given one meal per day, and sent back to work in the fields.

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Isla Coiba has been compared to French Guiana's Devil's Island Prison

Prisoners were tortured. Some were hung from basketball rims for up to five days. Flies would lay eggs in the wounds from where the bones of the wrists were exposed. The maggots would then eat the flesh. Others were dragged behind a horse. Many of the prisoners killed each other, and those who tried to escape were shot in the jungle.

To reach the side of the island closest to the mainland, a prisoner would have to trek for 16 hours through extreme conditions. There are 17 kinds of crocodiles, 15 types of snakes, 30 species of bats, and 70 types of ants on the island. To reach the opposite coast, they either swam through shark infested waters or drowned. Some succeeded or were picked up by boats.

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Ruins of church at Isla Coiba

The prison closed in 2004.

Unsurprisingly it is said to be haunted by the many prisoners who lost their lives under horrific circumstances.

A story is told that a guard committed suicide when he realized the prisoner he was chasing was a ghost.

Los Desaparecidos (The Disappeared Ones) was the name given to the thousands who disappeared in Panama under dictators Torrijos and Noriega. It is believed that most of these unfortunate individuals, either ended up in unmarked graves near the Coiba’s penal colony or to have been dismembered and fed to the abundant shark population in its surrounding waters.

In 1990, while Isla Coiba churned out death, the question still lingers as to why Noreiga's priestess visited the prison.

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Hugo Spadafora's mutilated corpse found at El Roblito in Costa Rica about 15 kilometers from La Concepcion, where he was last seen alive.

Authorities found that Noriega had a small shrine dedicated to candomble, a Brazilian form of voodoo at the commando school he founded on Coiba. There was evidence he practiced a malevolent form of the religion which involved diabolical spells.

Oliveira's diary also detailed that she was the last of several witches Noriega used over the years.

Authorities were hoping she could shed light on Noriega's black magic practices including the murder in 1985 of Panamanian opposition leader Hugo Spadafora. His headless body was found stuffed in a U.S. mail bag on the Costa Rican border. According to a coroner's report, Spadafora had been tortured and sodomized. His head was never found. It was believed his murder was a ritual killing.

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Troops at Noriega's compound c.1990 (Source - The Gazette)

CID also discovered two items associated with "palo mayombe, a cult that requires the use of human bones and body parts, especially skulls and brains. Palo mayombe is based on the belief that spirits can be created from dead persons and then invoked for assistance and protection."

A rock covered with palo mayombe markings were in Noriega's witch house. Under it was a list of over 20 enemies including the Spadafora family.

Eventually US investigators found occult items used in rituals in five places frequented by Noriega. This included his home in the exclusive Altos del Golf neighborhood, where a shrine was erected in a back garden. It contained a mask used in "abaqua, a Cuban secret society that practices palo mayombe."

It was evident that Noriega believed in Oliveira's powers, but it appeared she couldn't reverse his fate. In 1990, Noriega was in US custody where he was convicted and sentenced to 17 years, which he served in a federal penitentiary. He was extradited to France who sent him back to Panama where he died in custody in 2017, at the age of 83.

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As to his sorceress she is believed to have fled from Panama and returned to Brazil, despite being placed on the US Army's Criminal Investigation Division's most-wanted list.

As to his sorceress she is believed to have fled from Panama and returned to Brazil, despite being placed on the US Army's Criminal Investigation Division's most-wanted list.

You may ask yourself how this connects to cattle mutilations in Texas. If political dictators believe in these rituals, so do many others who are hungry for power and wealth at the cost of human and animals' misery. Present day, cartels have overrun our southern border, many who are believers in these types of dark cults. There are also followers spread throughout the country. Believing they would go to any lengths to acquire the most powerful ingredients, is not as far-fetched as believing that visitors from another planet repeatedly abduct cattle to remove the most undesirable parts of the animals.

Such is the nature of rabbit holes, especially the deep ones.

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