Mythical beast found in Texas?

[recon228]

Link - http://www.comcast.net/news/national...itn_chupacabra (With photos!)

CUERO, Texas - Phylis Canion lived in Africa for four years. She's been a hunter all her life and has the mounted heads of a zebra and other exotic animals in her house to prove it.

But the roadkill she found last month outside her ranch was a new one even for her, worth putting in a freezer hidden from curious onlookers: Canion believes she may have the head of the mythical, bloodsucking chupacabra.

"It is one ugly creature," Canion said, holding the head of the mammal, which has big ears, large fanged teeth and grayish-blue, mostly hairless skin.

Canion and some of her neighbors discovered the 40-pound bodies of three of the animals over four days in July outside her ranch in Cuero, 80 miles southeast of San Antonio. Canion said she saved the head of the one she found so she can get to get to the bottom of its ancestry through DNA testing and then mount it for posterity.

She suspects, as have many rural denizens over the years, that a chupacabra may have killed as many as 26 of her chickens in the past couple of years.

"I've seen a lot of nasty stuff. I've never seen anything like this," she said.

What tipped Canion to the possibility that this was no ugly coyote, but perhaps the vampire-like beast, is that the chickens weren't eaten or carried off _ all the blood was drained from them, she said.

Chupacabra means "goat sucker" in Spanish, and it is said to have originated in Latin America, specifically Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Canion thinks recent heavy rains ran them right out of their dens.

"I think it could have wolf in it," Canion said. "It has to be a cross between two or three different things."

She said the finding has captured the imagination of locals, just like purported sightings of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster have elsewhere.

But what folks are calling a chupacabra is probably just a strange breed of dog, said veterinarian Travis Schaar of the Main Street Animal Hospital in nearby Victoria.

"I'm not going to tell you that's not a chupacabra. I just think in my opinion a chupacabra is a dog," said Schaar, who has seen Canion's find.

The "chupacabras" could have all been part of a mutated litter of dogs, or they may be a new kind of mutt, he said.

As for the bloodsucking, Schaar said that this particular canine may simply have a preference for blood, letting its prey bleed out and licking it up.

Chupacabra or not, the discovery has spawned a local and international craze. Canion has started selling T-shirts that read: "2007, The Summer of the Chupacabra, Cuero, Texas," accompanied by a caricature of the creature. The $5 shirts have gone all over the world, including Japan, Australia and Brunei. Schaar also said he has one.

"If everyone has a fun time with it, we'll keep doing it," she said. "It's good for Cuero."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

Kinda looks like Rufus' bigger, badder brother!

[GoTeamGirl]

I watched a program on that subject the other day...

[lunchmeat]

It will be interesting to see what the genetics and forensics turn up. Hopefully US Fish and Wildlife and Texas Parks and Wildlife (they do the state fish and game stuff) will have a full opportunity to examine and sample it.

[jeriddian]

I saw this in the paper today. The picture suggested a hairless canine of some sort, but I guess we'll see.

[Mike_Industries]

I wonder if cpneb would know anything about this... Maybe he created the creature and taught it to pinch or something along those lines...

[TransWarpDrive]

The photo accompanying the article recon linked us to shows a creature that looks to me like either a small dog or some kind of wild pig. Either way, it'll be interesting to hear what the lab analysis of this creature reveals.
BTW, they mentioned the discovery of this creature on "ABC World News Tonight" last night.

[cpneb]

The photo accompanying the article recon linked us to shows a creature that looks to me like either a small dog or some kind of wild pig. Either way, it'll be interesting to hear what the lab analysis of this creature reveals.
BTW, they mentioned the discovery of this creature on "ABC World News Tonight" last night.

More than likely a baby wild boar, mutated or cross-bred with another animal in the wild...the research won't be 'boaring.'

I wonder if cpneb would know anything about this... Maybe he created the creature and taught it to pinch or something along those lines...

Alkways with ze pinchink comments, Mike, you mit ze beautiful redheaded fraulein...Do you, perhaps, be havink the urges to yourself pinch somethink, I belief?

Stick to Ze boarink topicks, Pleeze! Danke....

[Cody MacArthur Fett]

Well I was looking through the various threads, and given my interest in cryptozoology (Arguably the most frustrating science ever) I decided to check this thread out, and I was also wondering if there had been any new updates on this story. I'd very much like to find out what the lab results said. Thank you for your time.