Has the Chupacabra been found in Texas?

[Evilmav2]

Has a Mythical Beast Turned Up in Texas?

AP Article
By ELIZABETH WHITE – 3 hours ago

CUERO, Texas (AP) — 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."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j...nCesj3lr62Yczw


Phylis Canion examines the head of what she is calling a Chupacabra at her home in Cuero, Texas, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007. Canion believes she may have the head of the mythical bloodsucking chupacabra. She found the strange looking animal dead outside her ranch and thinks it is responsible for killing many of her chickens. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)


Phylis Canion holds a photo of what she is calling a Chupacabra in Cuero, Texas, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007. She found the strange looking animal dead outside her ranch and thinks it is responsible for killing many of her chickens. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

[sike]

thats hot

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by sike

Someone killed my dog!

What did you do to that thing?

[MavsX]

what the hell is that thing

[chumdawg]

Is his first name Zarko?

[Flacolaco]

Isn't it kind of creepy that this lady who found this dog feels pretty comfortable decapitating things and freezing them?

[sike]

come on, flaco, who hasn't enjoyed cutting the head off of an animal now and again?

[Evilmav2]

More Texas Chupacabras:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6vRdy4SO4Y

And more (from last July)...


Chupacabra, coyote or ... ?

Strange animals are sighted in DeWitt County

July 23, 2007 - Posted at 12:00 a.m.
BY SONNY LONG - VICTORIA ADVOCATE

CUERO - Phylis Canion is mystified, baffled and, at one point, she was a little bit frightened.
What exactly is the mysterious animal that she has seen on her property: the storied Chupacabra, a coyote with mange, or some breeding experiment gone horribly wrong?

The story begins two Saturdays ago when Canion got a call. She was told one of the animals she had first seen on her property about two years ago had been hit by a car and killed. Canion's property is on Buenger Road off U.S. Highway 183 south of Cuero.

"I had seen one three or four times on our place, but it's very elusive. So, when I got the call that one had been killed, I got it and took it back to the house," Canion said. "It's a strange-looking animal. It has short front legs and longer back legs. The paws on the front are different than the ones on the back, and it has no hair. The nose is very long. The tip of the nose is longer than the lower jaw, and the front teeth stick out, almost like fangs. They are the ugliest things I have ever seen in my life."

Canion said that after she first saw the animal on her property, she began losing kittens during the night.

"I don't know if it was related or not, so I began to set a chicken out at night," she said. "I would find the chicken the next day with all the blood drained out. The carcass was left behind. The scariest thing that happened was the day I found the chicken on my back porch. All the blood was sucked out, and there was not one drop of blood on my porch."

Canion said a neighboring property owner has reported a sheep found devoid of blood.

"Others I have talked to have seen it, too," Canion said. "But they didn't tell anyone because they were afraid people would think they are crazy."
DeWitt County Extension Agent Anthony Netardus looked at the photographs of the carcass of the mysterious animal. "I'd rather defer to the experts, but it looks to me like it might be a coyote with a severe case of mange," he said.

Canion called in a local game warden who admitted he didn't know what the animal was and took her photographs to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in Austin, Canion said.

"They said it's not a mangy coyote," she said.

Local veterinarian Robert Beer also examined the photographs. "I can't say for sure without actually examining the animal, especially the head. But it looks like a coyote with mange. I have seen this in coyotes and foxes. It could even be a domestic dog," he said.

Canion said she will soon be sending a "sample" to Texas A&M for DNA testing.

"I have also sent the pictures to National Geographic, and they wrote back and said they would be in touch soon," Canion said.

She has her own theory about why at least three of these animals have been seen in recent days. Another was killed near her property, and one was killed near the Guadalupe River bridge, both hit by cars.

"We don't see ever see three coyotes dead on the road," Canion said. "Why all of a sudden? I think they must live in a hole, in a den. We've had more than 20 inches of rain at our house recently, and I think it forces them out of their holes."

"I have also heard a rumor, but haven't been able to substantiate it, that some years ago some experiments were done breeding different species. So who knows what this might be?" Canion said.

She thinks the mystery will soon be solved.

"Between Texas A&M and National Geographic, I bet we can come up with some answers," she said.
Sonny Long is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-275-6319 or cueroadv@vicad.com, or comment on this story here.

http://www.thevictoriaadvocate.com/632/story/94240.html

[EricaLubarsky]

Chupacabras: the source of evil on season 4 of Lost