A rash of livestock mutilations were reported in Montana in 1974 and 1975. The problem was apparently considered serious enough that the Montana Stockgrowers Association posted a reward of $1,000 for information on persons guilty of mutilating livestock.
A number of incidents occurred in Cascade County, many of which were investigated by Deputy Sheriff Keith Wolverton.. In 1976 Captain Wolverton together with Roberta Donovan, a former newspaper reporter, wrote a book entitled Mystery Stalks the Prairie, which contained a sensationalized account of these cases. Livestock mutilations, however, were only one of the mysteries that "stalked the prairie," for the book also discusses sightings of UFOs and hairy monsters (Donovan and Wolverton 1976).
Other investigators and writers have taken issue with the Cascade County cases. In an article published in Livestock News and Views, Leland Cade (1975) makes the following observation:
"Investigators in the Cascade and Madison Counties Sheriff's Offices have reported that 'very sharp instruments were used.' Although the claims have been made, there has apparently been no laboratory examinations to confirm them."
In the same article, Mons Teigen, secretary of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, is quoted as saying:
"We met with the Sheriff in Cascade and surrounding counties. All I saw was slides -- it wasn't convincing. You can't tell anything from a slide. No laboratory reports were offered."
Laboratory reports, however, are available for some of the alleged victims. In fact, the diagnostic laboratory of the Montana Department of Livestock has examined the carcasses of between 24 and 40 mutilated animals. According to information furnished to me, all of these mutilations were attributed to carrion eaters. In regard to the same tests, Leland Cade (1975) makes the following statement:
"Hubbel said his laboratory had looked at 35 and that 'we have found nothing suspicious, nothing uncommon... In one case the lips were gone, the rectal area gone. The animal had been killed by lightning but we had to look hard to prove it."