The almost mythical creature called chupacabra is rumored to be a living cryptozoological creature that drinks the blood of small animals, like goats. Sightings in Puerto Rico in the mid 1990s especially have inflamed interest in this legendary beast whom has more recently been said also live in Mexico and the United States as far north as the state of Maine. Biologists however view this cryptid with a critical eye saying that the witnesses must have mistaken what they saw for some other known animal, usually a sick coyote is cited. I am hoping it’s not another Montauk Monster Hoax again. I want to believe.

Part Myth, Mostly Monster

The Chupacabra is said by witnesses to be reptile-like in appearance, with greenish pale skin with scales, red glowing eyes and a pronounced spine running the length of its back. Others say that it more resembles a canine with an elongated head, naked of fur and having long teeth especially of the lower jaw. Witness testimony varies so widely that one might think immediately that there are falsehoods (which is likely, even if unintentionally so) or two entirely different species being described.

Science is hesitant to believe the eye-witness testimony of sighting of this creature and dismiss the killed livestock as the work of other more common predators. Certainly, the chupacabra being featured in an episode of the Sci-Fi/Mystery television series “The X-Files” only makes acknowledging the possible existence of this potentially unrecorded creature all the more difficult to accept.

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It is rather a curious fact that the first reported livestock attacks began only very recently, as recent as March 1995 in Puerto Rico. Here, sheep were killed and each had what appeared to be three puncture wounds in the chest, and all were said to be drained of blood would be a speculative assessment. The body of a chupacabra victim has yet to be examined by a qualified animal biologist and make that determination.

The suddenness of the event suggests something other than a natural predator. If the predator had been localised all along, there should have been some evidence of its existence long before the first reported case began in 1995. Or perhaps, something this is something not native to the island that had emigrated, had either escaped a facility where it was being held and secretly studied, or was intentionally released. There are collectors whom secretly import dangerous wildlife indigenous to other places into ‘private zoos’ or wildlife preserves. These owners would be reluctant to report an escaped, illegally-obtained animal formerly in their possession to authorities.

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 In August of this same year in the Puerto Rico town of Canóvanas, some 150 farm animals and other domestic pets were allegedly killed under unusual circumstances. Drained of blood seems to be the most common attribute of the creatures feeding habit.

This also seems related to reported killings in 1975 in the town of Moco P.R. by what was there called “El Vampire de Moco” (“The Vampire of Moco.”) These animal slayings were at the time thought to be the work of a Satanic cult but as more animal deaths continued to be reported around the island it made this hypothesis this somewhat unlikely. It appears that one or more predators were on the loose.

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The creature seems to also exist in Russia. In 2005 reports started to come in about an animal that kills livestock birds (turkeys, etc) and drains them of blood. Sheep were on the menu as well. Eyewitness reports tell of a ‘canine-like animal’ in the area.

A Chupacabra?

While the most common description of the Chupacabra is that of a reptile-like creature that moves like both a dog and a kangaroo and stands approximately 3 or 4 feet in height (1 – 1.2m) it is often described as more of a hairless dog, gaunt and with pronounced eye-sockets and large teeth. Somehow, the drinking of blood seems too weakand exclusive food source for a creature stated to be size of a coyote, weighing in at around 40-lbs.. Blood has about the same nutritive quality as plain yogurt and while vampire bats do well with a diet of only blood due to their lower metabolism during their respite period in day, it seems unlikely that a dog-sized mammal could sustain itself on such a poor diet exclusively.

Is this creature really something unknown to science or are they just known animals such as coyotes or foxes that are severely malnourished and wholly misidentified by the witnesses who report them? We may soon have another clue as on September 1rst, 2009, a Texas owner of a Taxidermy School has claimed to be in possession of a chupacabra’s body. CNN reported that one of his students poisoned a creature that was killing livestock in and around the family’s farm and brought it to him. The student may have in fact brought down an actual chupacabra. We all are waiting for the results of the findings.