Mel Sedillo of the New Mexico Livestock Board contacted me on October 9 and stated that a cattle mutilation had been reported in the San Lorenzo area. An on-the-scene investigation was conducted that day by myself; Henry Torres, inspector for the New Mexico Livestock Board; and Richard Montoya, deputy for the Grants County Sheriff's office. The owners of the animal were also present.
The dead animal was a four-year-old female bovine, which had been found lying on its left side. The animal was last seen alive several days before. As in other cases, it had recently calved. Its right eye and udder were missing, and there was a hole, approximately six inches in diameter, in the anus area. The carcass appeared to be in a very advanced stage of bloat. Bird defecation was also observed on the animal, and canine tracks were discovered in the immediate vicinity.
Figure No. 38 shows the tongue intact but protruding, making it a very accessible target. As stated previously, it is not unusual for an animal to die with the tongue in this position.
Figure No. 39 shows the damage in the udder area and clearly reveals the jaggedness of the destruction, particularly in the 5 o'clock and 11 o'clock areas. The carcass also bears evidence of a skin disorder known as scabies, which could be misinterpreted as burn marks.
Figure No. 40 is a close-up of the badly damaged anus area. The dark portions are dry blood, which also could be misinterpreted as burn marks. The jaggedness of the cut is very noticeable.
Figure No. 41 is also of the anus area, but after the animal has been rolled over. This shows the same damage as revealed in Figure No. 40, but now the jaggedness is much more noticeable. Once again, this demonstrates that care must be taken when making conclusions based on photographs.
During the course of the investigation, the owner told me she had reported the incident as a mutilation because of what she had read in the newspapers -- particularly the coverage afforded the cattle mutilation conference that took place April 20 (1979) in Albuquerque. However, in the opinion of both Inspector Torres and Deputy Montoya, the damage to the carcass was totally consistent with what one would expect to find from normal predator and scavenger activity. The writer, after viewing the damage and weighing the evidence provided by the bird defecation and canine tracks, agreed with their opinion.
This particular case might prompt the question -- "Why is it that while considerable damage was inflicted elsewhere, the tongue, an extremely accessible target, remained intact?" Once again, the amount and type of damage depends on when a person arrives on the scene, and which scavengers are in the vicinity. Much also depends on the behavior of these scavengers.
For example, birds would not be feeding on the carcass at the same time that canine scavengers are eating their fill.