[Dutch Boy]

I did an online search and found this.

In 1979, the Washington County (Arkansas) Sheriff’s Department conducted a controlled experiment to test if natural decomposition could mimic cattle mutilations. Researchers placed an euthanized heifer in a field and observed it for 48 hours, documenting the effects of scavengers and bacterial activity.

Results: The experiment demonstrated that postmortem bloating caused the cow’s skin to tear in incision-like patterns that matched descriptions of “surgical” cuts.
Scavenger Activity: Blowflies and maggots rapidly consumed soft tissues, while scavenging birds removed parts like eyes and cheeks, replicating the specific organ removals reported in mutilation cases.
Conclusion: The findings supported the theory that many reported mutilations were the result of natural predation and decomposition rather than unknown forces, a conclusion echoed by the FBI which closed its investigation citing common predators as the cause.

[BenLurkin]

Who did the euthanizing this time?

[lastchance]

That is interesting. But far too logical and factual. It does not have the wooo-wooo factor required by so many here.

[GOPJ]

Results: The experiment demonstrated that postmortem bloating caused the cow’s skin to tear in incision-like patterns that matched descriptions of “surgical” cuts. Scavenger Activity: Blowflies and maggots rapidly consumed soft tissues, while scavenging birds removed parts like eyes and cheeks, replicating the specific organ removals reported in mutilation cases. Conclusion: The findings supported the theory that many reported mutilations were the result of natural predation and decomposition rather than unknown forces, a conclusion echoed by the FBI which closed its investigation citing common predators as the cause.

Makes sense... thank for sharing.

[Joe 6-pack]

It sounds logical, but it fails to answer one over-arching question. People have domesticated cattle for thousands of years. They know what predation looks like from wolves, bear, cougars, wild dogs etc. Presumably they would have stumbled across these things before, but it wasn't until the late 1960s or early 1970s that these anomalous deaths and circumstances began to be reported with exsangunation, specific removals of sex organs, etc., to say nothing of waves of like incidents in certain areas.

Were these reports not being made by experienced cattlemen and ranchers I'd be far more inclined to write them off as natural processes, but some of these are people who have been around livestock their entire lives and they are dumbfounded.