They thought their pasture near Talkeetna was jinxed. Now they’re worried about a serial livestock killer.

Sariah Asher found the first Highland cow dead last Tuesday.

Asher, who lives with her husband and five children about three miles away, was stunned to find the 13-year-old long-haired cow named Pegmatite lifeless on the ground at their 7-acre pasture off Yoder Road near Talkeetna.

A neighbor processing the cow for their dogs — Asher had to talk her husband out of burying the beloved animal — found bloody pockets in the meat.

"But they didn't think she'd been shot," Asher said Monday. "We were just in such shock about it all. We don't lose cows."

The next day, they found the cow's 9-year-old calf, Sunday, dead in the pasture.

A veterinarian discovered the cow had been shot in the lung.

It was then that Asher's mind went to the ponies.

The couple cleared the Yoder Road property three years ago. That same year, a pony turned up with an L-shaped gash on her side that killed her.

Last winter, they came home from a trip to find Asher's beloved horse dead — from a similar wound.

Another pony last spring suffered a gash but survived. Asher decided to move the other ponies out of the field, she said, and found yet another with the wound. That one didn't survive.

Until now, Asher figured maybe there was something in the pasture that got them. Maybe a bear, or a nail, or something sharp on a tree. Maybe the cows slashed them with their horns.

Now, given what happened to the cows, maybe it was a human.

"I would be an idiot not to consider everything," she said Monday. "I don't want to keep making the same mistake."

The family farm includes nine beef cows, a half-dozen dairy cows, four goats, a couple of horses and about a dozen ponies.

There are no animals in the pasture now, Asher said, and won't be until it's clear who shot her cows.

Alaska State Troopers took a report on the cows, troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said. The trooper assigned the case wasn't on duty Monday.

Highland cattle are known for their hardiness and gentle temperament.

The cows shot last week were tame enough to be led into a trailer with a treat and "super gentle," Asher said. They attracted fans at the Alaska State Fair this year.

They were popular on Yoder Road too, she said. "They're kind of like little celebrities in our neighborhood."