September 1995
Southwest Francois Lake - Smith Ranch
97 km Southwest of Burns Lake, BC
The first indication I received of a mutilation incident came from a
fellow named Myron whom I met while investigating the crop circles in
Vanderhoof, on Friday, September 4th. During a stop at a small cafe in
Bednesti, situated between Prince George and Vanderhoof, he heard of a
mutilated cow in the Burns Lake area. That afternoon, I made several
inquiries in the Burns Lake area about such an incident, with negative
results.
I received an e-mail from Linda, of the Burns Lake Public Library, on
Saturday, September 12th, indicating a rancher by the name of Mr. Smith
had spoken to Charlene, also of the Burns Lake Public Library, inquiring
on books related to animal mutilations and the UFO phenomenon. In the
course of their conversation, Mr. Smith related that a buffalo cow from
his ranch had been found with various body parts missing, and which
appeared to have been surgically removed. Due to the remote area where his
ranch is located, Ken does not have access to a telephone; however,
Charlene acquired directions for locating the ranch, which I received
later Saturday afternoon.
Sunday morning, I departed on what was to be a 73 kilometer trip around
Francois Lake to the southwest end, where Smith's buffalo ranch is
located. Mr. Smith, accompanied by his dog, greeted me at the gate near
his house where he revealed that the incident had in fact taken place
three years earlier (1995), and had followed an unfortunate event which
transpired over the course of several months.
Through a program by a "Government Agency", pellets of a urea-sulphur
composition were dispensed throughout the area in an attempt to promote
forest growth, but were also ingested by several of the prairie buffalo he
raises there. During the course of the next few months, 27 of the herd
died as a result of the ingestion, at a loss of 7,000-9,000 dollars per
cow. According to Mr. Smith, who consulted a biologist about the deaths,
the sulphur component created a copper and selenium deficiency in the
animal, resulting in eventual liver and cardiac failure. Mr Smith showed
several pictures of these buffalo in an emaciated condition, prior to
their eventual demise. When asked, he later told me that the "Government
Agency" denied any responsibility for the incident, and he was never
compensated for the loss.
By September of the same year, the deaths had ceased and the remaining
buffalo were healthy and thriving, including a four year old cow which had
bore its first calf five months earlier. Showing great pride in his herd,
he promptly pulled out three photographs of the healthy cow and calf. As
Mr Smith related to me, he left his house one morning and heard the calf
'blubbering' a short distance away, at which time he discovered the dead
cow approximately 300 feet from his home. Prior to that time, the dog,
which had also been indoors, never made any noticeable reaction despite
being known to alert to intruders, wild or otherwise.
Inspecting the corpse, he noticed the udder had been cleanly cut away, as
had the rectum and vagina in what he describes as a perfect circle, and
with surgical precision. The depth was apparently substantial enough to
indicate that the reproductive organs may have been removed, but there is
no way to confirm this. In addition, the nose was also found to be
missing, but he admits not closely examining the mouth to determine if the
tongue had been removed as well. Most remarkable to Mr Smith, though, was
the complete absence of blood, with the exception of a small area which
surrounded the now absent nose. "I just don't know how anyone could have
done that," he admitted, reflecting on the examination, "it was just too
clean and precise".
Suspecting foul play, Mr Smith rolled the dead animal over, inspecting for
bullet wounds, which proved to be non-existent. I asked if he had noted
any tracks or footprints in the area surrounding the cow, and other than
old hoof prints, no other marks had been discovered. "Just like it had
been dropped there," he told me. Subsequently, he emphasized in
considerable detail, previous events where the buffalo had been known to
kill predatory bears and wolves, which had found their way onto the ranch.
Also worth mentioning, was a point he later made about the herd tending to
shy away from land based vehicles, but were seemingly undisturbed by any
of the low altitude aircraft which occasionally fly over the area.
As mysterious as the death of this creature, was the rate of decay, which
followed. Having witnessed 27 of his herd slowly die and decompose during
the months before, this particular cow decayed at an unusually accelerated
rate. Even the hair was noted to disappear as quickly as the tissue to
which it was attached. Also interesting, is that in the previous deaths,
the remaining buffalo would gather and nudge the carcass with their heads,
while in this case not even the calf would approach the dead animal. In
the days that followed, the corpse remained free of maggots, and no bird
or animal would approach it. The only activity ever witnessed was a fly
which once landed and immediately flew away, without settling on the
remains.
Not being one to believe, or even consider, the existence of the UFO
phenomenon, Mr Smith found the incident too disturbing and bizarre to talk
about, remaining silent about the entire event. It was through some
material which he received from a daughter about animal mutilations, and
the subject of UFOs, that he began to even mention the incident and seek
additional information. It was also through a daughter, who was working at
the Bednesti Cafe, that a fellow named Myron would hear a story which he
would later tell at the crop circles in Vanderhoof one Friday afternoon.
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