NationStates Jolt Archive

Saturday, September 1, 2007

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."

Linky! (http://home.peoplepc.com/psp/newsstory.asp?cat=Strange&id=20070901/46d8e3c0_3ca6_1552620070901-618988046)

I can't wait till the DNA testing comes back, but I want to see pictures of this thing!

What about the chupasapo in Arkansas, U.S.A.?

Sounds like a nice dog to have as a pet :p

Anyone want to take bets that it's a coyote with mange?

AP source article w/photo (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jgIXOzgj5X8SCBnCesj3lr62Yczw)

Looks like Senator Larry Craig might have relatives in Texas eh?

Anyone want to take bets that it's a coyote with mange?

AP source article w/photo (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jgIXOzgj5X8SCBnCesj3lr62Yczw)

It looks more like a big dog, like a pit bull or something like that.

It looks more like a big dog, like a pit bull or something like that.

The nozzle is too long and narrow for a pit bull.

The nozzle is too long and narrow for a pit bull.

nozzle, lol! made me think they should turn it into a waterpistol....


not sure why now, i'm a bit odd.

Now if *I* found what might be an unknown species or mythical species, what I would NOT do it chop off its head, jam it in a freezer, and alert the press a month later.

I'd call animal control, a university specializing in veterinary science or genetics, and freeze the whole carcass if they could not see it immediately in situ.

Something about this whole story stinks. They found three but all they kept was the head of one?

Somewhere on the internet a creationist is using this to justify their beliefs.

I believe that something like this has been found before, in August of 2004.
They called it the Elmendorf Beast, and it turned out to be a coyote with a nasty case of mange.

I could only find a few links about it though:
Article 1 (http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=4069)
Article 2 (http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=4198) <Has a good closeup of the critter.
Article 3 (http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=4258)

Now if *I* found what might be an unknown species or mythical species, what I would NOT do it chop off its head, jam it in a freezer, and alert the press a month later.

I'd call animal control, a university specializing in veterinary science or genetics, and freeze the whole carcass if they could not see it immediately in situ.

Something about this whole story stinks. They found three but all they kept was the head of one?
Pfff...yeah, if you wanted it verified. That ain't gonna sell you any t-shirts, now, is it?

Somewhere on the internet a creationist is using this to justify their beliefs.

Did you ever see that televised 'debate' about creationism where Kirk Cameron (yes, that Kirk Cameron) held up pictures of creatures that didn't exist as his proof that evolution didn't happen, like a duck with a dog head or something equally ridiculous?

"Hey Grif... chupathingy. How 'bout it? I like it. It's got a ring to it."

Now if *I* found what might be an unknown species or mythical species, what I would NOT do it chop off its head, jam it in a freezer, and alert the press a month later.
Maybe she did try to alert the press, they just didn't care?

Something about this whole story stinks. They found three but all they kept was the head of one?
Lack of freezer space?

http://www.meta-religion.com/Zoology/Oddities/chupacabras_coyote.htm

I think the text is laughable, but damned if that doesn't look like a hairless coyote to me.

Maybe she did try to alert the press, they just didn't care?


Lack of freezer space?

Please, there have been stories on this twice before in Lufkin and Elmendorf Texas. The press would have picked it up.

Right... you have a specimen that you think is important, so you chop off its head rather than put the whole thing in your freezer. This lady is supposedly a hunter -- you don't stick a deer into your fridge, you have a big chest freezer.

Now if *I* found what might be an unknown species or mythical species, what I would NOT do it chop off its head, jam it in a freezer, and alert the press a month later.

I'd call animal control, a university specializing in veterinary science or genetics, and freeze the whole carcass if they could not see it immediately in situ.

Something about this whole story stinks. They found three but all they kept was the head of one?

Huh. That's what stinks to you?

What stinks to me is that the thing just looks like an ugly ass dog. I've seen dogs that look very similar to that, and quite frankly it doesn't look unusual at all.

It's probably some sort of mutt with a genetic disorder(Explaining why more than one were found).

Chupa-thingy. I like it.

Right... you have a specimen that you think is important, so you chop off its head rather than put the whole thing in your freezer. This lady is supposedly a hunter -- you don't stick a deer into your fridge, you have a big chest freezer.
Maybe she just went hunting and already had a freezer full of deer?

Plus it's not like you shove a whole deer into a freezer, you chop it up into bits and then put it in.

I'm not saying that this is a chupacabra, I'm just not saying that this lady is trying to deceive people and it seems to be mostly in fun. Also, she's a hunter, she keeps heads as trophies, I don't think she necessarily cares too much about taxonomy.

Yeah, the chupacabra always struck me as one of the more outlandish cryptids out there. Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster, at least, have precedents in the fossil record and a long and consistent history of reports from locals. The chupacabra seems to have come out of nowhere, though.

Linky! (http://home.peoplepc.com/psp/newsstory.asp?cat=Strange&id=20070901/46d8e3c0_3ca6_1552620070901-618988046)

I can't wait till the DNA testing comes back, but I want to see pictures of this thing!

A chupacabra? I'm getting a bit too cynical to believe it's actually a chupacabra, but I don't see what else it could be. And yeah, I want to see it.

Weird o.o; It looks like a dog though.

I know I've seen that kind of dog before, but I can't place it.

"Hey Grif... chupathingy. How 'bout it? I like it. It's got a ring to it."

Sarge!

"Hey Grif... chupathingy. How 'bout it? I like it. It's got a ring to it."

RvB!! :D

Lack of freezer space?
Exactly. You've got to keep your priorities straight in this sort of case. What's more important, keeping the mythical beast's carcass in one piece, or the gallon-sized tub of Rocky Road?

Anyone want to take bets that it's a coyote with mange?

AP source article w/photo (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jgIXOzgj5X8SCBnCesj3lr62Yczw)

After looking at the photos I would say it does look like a coyote. I have shot many of them and the head resembles a coyotes head.

It's a coyote with mange. It's always a coyote with mange. You know why? Because the things that kill the livestock are bloody coyotes, sometimes with mange.

It's a coyote with mange. It's always a coyote with mange. You know why? Because the things that kill the livestock are bloody coyotes, sometimes with mange.
That's what it sounds like to me, but what about the fact that the blood is drained and the victims aren't torn open like a normal coyote or whatever would do?

It looks like a little pig.

That's what it sounds like to me, but what about the fact that the blood is drained and the victims aren't torn open like a normal coyote or whatever would do?

Either embellishment of what actually happened(I would like to see how they determined that the birds were infact drained of blood), the animal has come to have a "taste" for blood, or just an animal that likes to kill small animals(Some animals do get some sort of joy out of just killing animals, and not actually eating them. Happens every once in a while.)

None of these are impossible, nor necessarily uncommon.

And a picture of a coyote with mange:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Coyote_with_mange.jpg

Yep. Pretty clear cut to me.

As long it sucks goat brains I'm okay with it.

Okibi;13018324']I believe that something like this has been found before, in August of 2004.
They called it the Elmendorf Beast, and it turned out to be a coyote with a nasty case of mange.

I could only find a few links about it though:
Article 1 (http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=4069)
Article 2 (http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=4198) <Has a good closeup of the critter.
Article 3 (http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=4258)

It looks like an ugly-ass kangaroo.

Somewhere on the internet a creationist is using this to justify their beliefs.


Somwehere, on the internet, an evolutionist is using this to justify their beliefs.

damn! I thought this thread was about El Chupanibre:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/El_Chupanibre.jpg/150px-El_Chupanibre.jpg

That's what it sounds like to me, but what about the fact that the blood is drained and the victims aren't torn open like a normal coyote or whatever would do?

Because that is not in fact what happens. I've seen almost every single picture of the dead animals. All of them have their throats ripped open and copious quantities of blood spread around them. The "bloodless" state is simply the fact that the remaining blood has pooled at the bottom of the body.

Somwehere, on the internet, an evolutionist is using this to justify their beliefs.

As far as I recall, evolutionists use empirical observation and comparison of natural data to form their hypothesis. Using anecdotal, unexplained, and atypical incidents is something the followers of the 'god of the gaps' indulge in.

It's a Coyote with a terrible case of mange and possibly one or more diseases, genetic or otherwise.

Somwehere, on the internet, an evolutionist is using this to justify their beliefs.

The circle is now complete.

http://hem.bredband.net/b232251/stuff/cheneyemperor.jpg

It's a bear with mange.

I figured I'd follow up on this one (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/02/chupacabra.ap/index.html). Give us some closure for this thread.

Chip, chip, cheerio!

Did you ever see that televised 'debate' about creationism where Kirk Cameron (yes, that Kirk Cameron) held up pictures of creatures that didn't exist as his proof that evolution didn't happen, like a duck with a dog head or something equally ridiculous?

The same guy who did that one special about Back to the Future? That guy who was on...what was it called...Growing Pains? :eek:

Seem to be a lot of threads about cryptids latetly, not to mention animals with mange apparently causing sitings.

The same guy who did that one special about Back to the Future? That guy who was on...what was it called...Growing Pains? :eek:
The very same.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/4386/kirkcameroncrocoduckrc6.jpg

That’s a ‘croco-duck’, he’s holding up there.

looks like some poor thing who'se mom dug their den too close to a nuclear power plant. looks like some poor deformed creature born with radiation induced birth defects. or some other consiquence of the screwed up things we're doing to the environment, maybe mercury poisoning or something like that.

i will wish happier thoughts to its departed little soul then ever it is likely to have experienced in this life.

=^^=
.../\...

I figured I'd follow up on this one (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/02/chupacabra.ap/index.html). Give us some closure for this thread.

Chip, chip, cheerio!
Well, that's that.

The very same.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/4386/kirkcameroncrocoduckrc6.jpg

That’s a ‘croco-duck’, he’s holding up there.
It's appropriate that Cameron looks stoned there...though I don't know how stoned you'd have to be to buy that logic, and I've been pretty fucking stoned...

I figured I'd follow up on this one (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/02/chupacabra.ap/index.html). Give us some closure for this thread.

Chip, chip, cheerio!

Did I call it or did I call it.

Didn't someone watch a cow decompose a few days and it turned out just like a cattle mutilation case? Fly maggots go for soft tissue first like eyes, genitals, and in the case of cows, udders.

Disgusting.

Well, that's that.


It's appropriate that Cameron looks stoned there...though I don't know how stoned you'd have to be to buy that logic, and I've been pretty fucking stoned...

This is Kirk "Bibleman" Cameron we're talking about here. Any more stoned and you'd be ogling Medusa's titties.