Veteran investigator Dave Perkins devoted his life to ​solving the West’s strangest mystery: the unexplained mutilation of thousands of cattle. Anchored by his ​quest for answers to ​a phenomenon that has haunted ranchers and law enforcement for more than 50 years, A Bird with a Knife explores the theories that have become tied to this mystery— cults​, aliens​, government cover-ups—and what they reveal about our need to find meaning in the face of the unknown.