"Chupacabra" Bodies Discovered in Texas

The strange, doglike creature emerges from deep underground only at night to stealthily stalk its prey. Its nearly hairless, blue grey skin allows it to blend into shadow or moonlit landscape with near invisibility. The enlarged eyes and ears are adapted to the dim light and faint sounds of the night. Creeping up on its sleeping victims, it draws near and suddenly pounces, sinking in its daggerlike fangs and latching on with powerful jaws. The nocturnal creature feeds, vampire-like only on the prey's blood and fluids.

Could this hideous mammal, discovered near Cuervo, Texas be the legendary Chupacabra? The name in Spanish literally means Goat-sucker, due to the many goats that were found slain at night, intact but with a single hole in the carcass, the blood completely drained. There are many hundreds of eye-witness accounts from Puerto Rico, Latin America, Mexico and the southern United States. The sightings always occur at night, often by torchlight, lantern or campfire, and the descriptions vary. The most common features, however are a hideous face, greyish skin and a crest of some sort along the neck and back.

Three lifeless bodies of an unidentified mammal matching that general description, weighing about 40 pounds, were found by Phylis Canion and her neighbors in July, 2007 near Canion's ranch. Prior to the discovery, as many as 26 of Canion's chickens may have been killed by the creatures during the past couple of years, and none of them were eaten or carried away- just drained of blood. (Follow this link to see story and photos). The condition of the chickens is typical of the reported feeding habits of the Chupacabra.

Inspection of the creatures reveals the following characteristics and possible indicators:

The nearly hairless, smooth skin is characteristic of animals that live in underground burrows.The thick, muscular forelegs with broad paws and stout claws support this probability. Weaker hindquarters and slender rear legs generally indicate an animal that does not habtually travel long distances above ground.

Wide-set, large eyes and ears indicate an adaptation to a nocturnal lifecyle. A long snout and prominent nostrils indicate a highly sensitive sense of smell, another feature common to creatures that hunt at night.

The unusually long cannine fangs have chisle-like tips and are apparently adapted to puncture and seize rather than slash or cut. The robust structure of the jawbone and heavy jaw muscles indicate an abiltity to clamp and hold with significant force, possibly enabling the "Chupacabra" to place a stranglehold on its victims.

There is a crest of coarse, reddish-brown fur along the backbone. This feature also matches a key characteristic of the Chupacabra sightings.

It is likely that the record rainfall and subsequent high floodiwaters in Texas this year had the effect of flushing the creatures out of their normally secure and well-concealed burrows. The fact that three of the creatures were discovered raises the possibiltiy that it may be a new species of mammal. DNA testing and other scientific analysis will shed light on the subject.

Chupacabra or not? Only time and science will tell. But meanwhile, to paraphrase Shakespeare, let us keep in mind that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophies. The drawing here is based on both the actual appearance of the discovered specimens and an encounter that I once had north of San Antonio.

I was driving at night through the back country. The road there had a stretch with rolling hills that were fairly steep but not too tall. To save gas I would coast on the downhill sides, my motor at a quiet idle. At the bottom of one hill was a road-killed deer. In the headlights I briefly but clearly saw a strange and hideous creature atop the deer, grimacing my way. It was revolting and repugnant; my brain scrambled trying to identify it.

My first thought was hyena-jackal bat-dog beast. I couldn't place it, and at the time, I didn't associate it with the Chupacabra stories. I later thought maybe it was an old coyote with the mange or some such. When I saw the story of the Canion find, the image flashed back into my memory. Incidently, Cuervo is to the southeast of San Antonio.