Chupacabra Found

Chupacabra found! At least that's the cry every now and then when someone finds a strange animal carcass that seems to fit the description of the notorious "goat sucker".

Are hairless dogs or coyotes being mistaken for Chupacabras?

Is there really a mysterious creature or pack of creatures running around the Southwest draining the blood from farm animals? That's what a lot of people seem to think. However, the supposed Chupacabras found so far have turned out to be identifiable animals.

In September of 2007, Rancher Phylis Canion knew that something was killing her chickens, but she wasn't sure what it was. She later came across the carcass of an animal that she couldn't really identify. In fact, two other dead specimens were found in the same area, but it wasn't clear what happened to those carcasses. The animal that Canion found was hairless with blue-gray colored skin. It also appeared to have large canine teeth. Canion collected the carcass and submitted DNA samples for testing to Texas State University. The results of the test revealed that the animal in question had coyote DNA, and many have speculated that the animal's hair loss might have been due to a severe case of mange.

In yet another case of "Chupacabra found" in Cuero, this possible sighting took place in August of 2008 in DeWitt County. Corporal Brandon Riedel turned on his dashboard camera after sighting an unusual looking creature running down a dirt road just ahead of him. The animal appeared to be some sort of hairless canine, but as it briefly turned its head to the side to look behind, the snout appeared to be out of proportion for a dog or coyote. The officer's video became fodder for the news media and was widely circulated. You can still view various news channel reports today on YouTube.com.

Of course, the video doesn't provide proof positive that the Texas animal was truly the Chup, but because the source of the video was an officer of the law, greater credence was given to the footage. Reidel also doesn't claim that animal is a Chupacabra; he simply states that he has never seen anything like it before.

September 2009 brought yet another report that a Chupacabra had been found in Texas; this time the location was Blanco. Taxidermist Jerry Ayers produced the frozen carcass of a strange, dog-like animal that was brought to him by a former student at his school of taxidermy. Not being able to identify what the creature was yet not prepared to claim it was a Chup, Ayers submitted samples for DNA testing. The results of those tests were not yet available at the time of this writing.

According to an October 19, 2009 report posted at FoxNews.com, Blanco's creature was stuffed and turned over to John Adolfi for display at his Lost World Museum in Phoenix, New York. Adolphi also claims that the DNA samples of the animal are currently being tested, and that a coyote carcass was also delivered to a Texas university for testing and comparison. The world awaits the results of those tests, but the entire episode is beginning to seem like a show worthy of the late great P.T. Barnum who has long been attributed with a quote about a sucker being born every minute.

So far, DNA tests have shown that most of the specimens of the so-called Chupacabra found have coyote or common canine DNA. There are no conclusive tests to indicate that these animals are a separate, as yet unidentified animal. Does that mean that the legendary Chup can be ruled out as merely a myth or urban legend? Not necessarily. It simply means that there currently isn't any hard evidence to either support or rule out the creature's existence as a whole. You can only rule one individual case at a time as not being a cryptid. For now, it seems that reports about the notorious "goat sucker" will continue to roll in. Perhaps one day, the mystery will be solved to everyone's satisfaction.

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