Captured Chupacabra

Stories of a captured Chupacabra abound on the Internet, but has this legendary beast finally been caught? Take a look at the legend, and then examine the latest facts.

For decades, residents of the American Southwest and South America have reported sightings of a strange animal that they believe is attacking their livestock. El Chupacabra, which literally translates to "goat sucker", is the popular name for the elusive beast due to the nature of the attacks on domestic animals. The reports are the same in numerous cases; the livestock's blood has been drained through several puncture wounds, but the flesh is left on the carcass.

As curious as that sounds, descriptions of the beast are even stranger. The head of the Chupacabra is described as having glowing red eyes with a mouth that contains huge fangs. The body is often said to be "lizard-like" and sometimes "leathery" with a row of quills or spiked fur down the spine. The animal is also said to have powerful hind legs that allow it to sometimes walk upright and even make great leaps.

Cryptozoologists are keen to examine a specimen, but if the Chupacabra actually exists, no one has been able to capture one alive. To date, animals believed to be the legendary goat sucker have all had dog or coyote DNA.

The latest chapter in the Chupacabra saga hit the news in September of 2009. Taxidermy teacher, Jerry Ayer of Blanco, Texas claimed to have what he believed was an actual Chupacabra specimen in his freezer. Ayer came in possession of the specimen after being asked by Lynn Butler, a former student, to help identify a strange animal that had been invading the barn of the man's cousin. Believing the marauder to be a large rodent, the pair put out rat poison, and they were quite surprised at the carcass they found. Ayer was called and asked to examine the creature and offer an opinion on what it might be.

According to Ayer, he had never seen anything like it before, but he felt it had a number of the characteristics often described by people who claimed to have seen a Chupacabra firsthand. The animal was basically furless except for a bit of fur around the feet and a bit more that ran up the spine. The skin of the beast was dark and somewhat leathery, and the large canine fangs appeared to protrude from the mouth.

Could this current specimen actually be a coyote that suffered from a bad case of mange, as many people have speculated? Could it be a native South American dog simply known as the Xolo, or maybe a hybrid of the two? Perhaps, but Ayer has received requests for tissue samples from UC Davis as well as the University of Texas, so the issue will eventually be sorted out. As of this writing, the results of those tests are not yet available, but an update will be provided as soon as one becomes available.

The one thing that Jerry Ayer wants to make clear to everyone is that he is not trying to pull a hoax, similar to recent claims of a captured Bigfoot carcass. Ayer is clear that he doesn't know what this creature really is, but that people can call it a Chupacabra if they want to until DNA tests show exactly what it is. In the meantime, he plans to stuff the creature and display it at the Blanco Taxidermy School.

The following video contains a report from KSAT News about the so-called captured Chupacabra as well as footage that clearly shows what the creature looks like. Take a look for yourself and share your comments about what it might be in the comments box below.

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