Cattle mutilations resurrect recurring mystery

I happened onto a cattle mutilation up near Mount Shasta a few years ago. A few park rangers were guarding it. My friend told the rangers I thought it was aliens. I offered another explanation: military training exercises with battery powered? hand held laser scalpels. One of the forest service rangers said he too had heard of this possibility.

Valier rancher John Peterson and his wife were recently headed out into the twilight to do some chores when they spotted her. The healthy young cow lay dead in a stubble field, just off the road. Stopping the truck to investigate, they found the sickening, telltale signs.

The cow's udder, genitals and rectum were cut out with stunning precision. The left side of her face was carved off, the exposed bones stripped as clean as if they'd been boiled.

Peterson, who discovered a similarly mutilated cow on his neighbor's ranch five years ago, knew he was the latest victim in one of rural Montana's greatest mysteries. Since the 1970s Montana ranchers have found dozens of cattle carved up in similar, macabre fashion.

The first known incident was a mutilated steer reported near Sand Coulee in late August 1974. By December 1977, sheriff's deputies had investigated 67 mutilation cases in Cascade, Judith Basin, Chouteau, Teton and Pondera counties.

In each case, the cuts were made with surgical precision, often in circular shapes. - greatfalls

Another possibility I've heard is that tissue samples are taken by the Govt. as part of a secret radiation monitoring program.