Chupacabra

CHUPACABRA
Fact or Fiction?

Mark Viniello as the Chupacabra in " Chupacabra Terror."

Aside from the cool looking rubber suit that Mark Viniello dons, the movie emulates other horror movies in that the creature is captured, escapes, and goes on a bloody rampage,
only this monster unleashes its vengence on the cruise line. You know what to expect. The special effects are semi-good, the acting is terrible with one exception: Chupacabra.

The mythical creature known as Chupacabra or in Spanish, El Chupacabra, may not be so mythical after all. Several eyewitnesses have testified to seeing this mysterious monster, while others claim to have captured its very image on film. But do these photos truly depict the horrifying monster we have come to know, or merely a new genetically mutated version of a coyote or a dog? What is the Chupacabra and where did this creature evolve from?
Is the Chupacabra fact or fiction?

A Brief History of Chupacabra

Chupacabra falls under a term known as Cryptozoology, which means this creature is thought to be real, but is yet to be substantiated as fact. The Spanish word for Chupacabra means "Goat Sucker." The term was coined in Puerto Rico in the mid 1990's after a strange rash of animal deaths began sweeping through the villages, farms, and hills.

Chupacabra first came to the public's attention when it made news all over Puerto Rico after a rash of mysterious animal deaths began to take place. Soon those numbers would increase to the hundreds. Like a vampire story, so goes the story of the bloodsucking Chupacabra. As the sun went down and the darkness of night fell, the cries of animals in distress began to fill the night air.

When farmers rushed out to see what had taken place, they found their animals dead, drained of all their blood. But where was this blood-thirsty creature and why did it leave the carcass behind and only take the life-giving fluid from the animal? Ok, so that's how the movies portray the monster Chupacabra, but it's not really so far from the truth.

In truth, after the sun goes down, animal deaths do occur. But they also happen in the light of day and just before sunrise too. In true accounts, the farmer would rise at first light go out to feed his animals and would find them dead. And just like the movies, it gets stranger.

After the farmers discovered their dead livestock, a closer inspection of the animal revealed large distinctive puncture wounds in the animals' neck or body. It was then determined that the blood of the animal was completely drained dry. But why were the carcasses left? Why was the animal not consumed? What kind of an animal or monster could do such a thing? A vampire? A cult? Or something much more mysterious and terrifying?

It didn't take long before stories of a blood-sucking monster began circulating in the tabloid news thus inspiring the name, El Chupacabra. Soon eyewitnesses began coming forward with stories of supposed sightings of the Chupacabra.

Chupacabra in the News
Photo Credit Thomas Roche
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasroche/2757982940/

It all seemed too horrific to fathom so the government enlisted the help of civil defense officials in charge of the attacks. They began investigating these attacks and interviewed those who had seen the creature. A frightening picture began to emerge. But the image of this beast seemed to vary from person to person and from one location to another. So was this the same monster that seemed to strike at random, roaming the land in search of blood?

Sightings: One Eyewitness Account

On a fall night in 1995, Misiel Negrone Melendez came face to face with the ominous monster. He claimed to have heard a strange sound and came out on the balcony of his second story home. On the far end of his balcony, he saw the strangest looking creature he had ever witnessed. He couldn't tell what he was looking at, so he began moving toward it. When he was finally close enough to see what it was, he began to slowly back away.
at the home link. I wille

move it immediately.

He said the beast stood on its hind legs. It was hairless and had huge claws. It was as tall as him and had two large red oval eyes. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Misiel's heart was pounding like a drum in his chest. A second later he ran into his house and locked the door. He then dared to look out of his window and that's when he noticed the two hideous eyes staring back at him. A moment later it was gone. Melendez was so scared, he had never seen anything like it in his entire life, and he would never forget his encounter with the Chupacabra.

When word got out of all the eyewitness accounts; many believed a new kind of monster, unknown to man was roaming the villages in search of blood. Fear became commonplace as more stories began to make headlines. Soon a typical image of the Chupacabra emerged. It looked like following: A hideous hairless monster that stood on its hind legs like a kangaroo, only it resembled a gargoyle. It had large fangs, red glowing eyes, and huge claws in place of its hands and feet. Sounds like a horror movie right?

As time passed, more animal deaths began spreading into Chile, Nicaragua, Mexico, and the U.S., and with the killings came more sightings.

But another image of the bloodsucking Chupacabra began to take shape as a rash of unexplained animal deaths began spreading through southern Texas in 2004. Ranchers began seeing a strange animal appear on their land at the same time they began finding the lifeless, bloodless bodies of their livestock. The image of this animal was quite different from the sightings in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and other places.

Documentary

During the mid 1990's a filmmaker by the name of Joe Palermo and researcher named Marc Davenport were in Puerto Rico filming a documentary. During this time, the deaths of animals were in the news daily. Chupacabra was the biggest story everywhere. Palermo and Davenport got caught up in the Chupacabra mystery and began interviewing people, while making a documentary on the case. While interviewing the mayor, a call came in about a Chupacabra sighting and a nest found in a nearby village of Conovanas, Puerto Rico. The men found out that the villagers had seen the creature every night for four months. They found hair in the supposed nest and took samples for analysis.

Forensic Analysis

The hair samples were sent off for DNA and forensic analysis. In the 1930's, some Recess monkeys were brought to Puerto Rico to be studied. Some of the monkeys escaped and some scientists wondered if any of these monkeys could be connected with the killings. Professor of Forensics, Irvine Kornfield analyzed the hair and found the scale pattern was not related to the monkeys. He thought they were related to canine. But it was still undetermined just what kind of canine it was. It could have been a sick animal, a different species, or something entirely new and unknown. He needed to compare the hair with other Chupacabra remains to get a better idea.

Another Eyewitness Story

In Elmendorf, Texas, 2005, Devin McAnally began losing a lot of his chickens. It seems that a Chupacabra was stalking and killing them. Over 30 chickens were killed and drained of their blood. He was working on his ranch when he noticed a strange looking animal outside of his fence. It was grey in color and stood on all fours. Its hind legs seemed much longer than the front legs. Strangely it resembled a canine and a kangaroo. McAnally knew this was the creature that had been killing his chickens. He ran to get his gun, and when he returned, it was gone. This happen at least three more times. Finally Devin propped a rifle in a tree so he would be ready the next time.

Photo Credit: Umit Kusadasi

A few days later, he was working when he spotted the creature again. This time he was ready. He grabbed his rifle and shot it dead. When he came closer, he was mystified by its appearance. The animal had skin like an elephant's; rough and hairless. Its hind legs were different than any canine he had ever seen and its incisors were enormous. He knew it was not a dog or a coyote. He couldn't figure out what it was. Devin ran to get his camera. He snapped some photos of it. He ended up keeping the bones of this creature and they were later used for DNA analysis.

Photo Credit: Kusadasi

Later, a cryptazologist by the name of Ken Garehard began analyzing the bones. What he found was the skull and teeth were much different than those of a coyote, wolf, or domestic dog. The incisors were much larger. He thought that this animal was possibly something new and unknown to science. He sent the teeth off to a lab for a DNA analysis. He laid out the bones and realized they were different. The saggital crest on the skull was more pronounced that that of a canine. His preliminary assessment told him it was a type of canine and a carnivore, but of undetermined origin.

Another Sighting

In 2005, in Pollock, Texas, another sighting came when father and son, Ben and Tyrel O'Quinn found a chupacabra under their house where the dogs had trapped it. Tyrel tried to catch it but as he moved closer, he felt very threatened by it and backed away. Ben shot and killed it. They pulled it out from under the house and took photos of it. They knew it was like nothing they had ever seen before.

Large Fangs and claws

Photo Credit: Kusadasi

More Sightings

In 2007, on a highway in Curero, Texas, rancher and Chupacabra enthusiast Philis Canion picked up the carcass of a Chupacabra off of the freeway near her home. She believes this is the animal that has been killing her chickens. She froze the head to have it studied. Ken Garehard, the cryptozologist, came to study it and had never witnessed anything like it before. He believed it to be a carnivore and predator of some type.

Philis Canion and the creature believed to be the Chupacabra
Photo Credit: Bigyahu http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigyahu/1317501934/

He compared the teeth with those from McAnally's skeleton. He found them to be the same. The skin was like elephant's skin; course and devoid of hair. Hair, skin, and tissue of the Curero samples were sent off to compare with the Puerto Rico samples. One of the scientists wanted to see if the skin condition on the animal was a bad case of mange. The test was inconclusive because the skin was dead and couldn't produce anything positive. The hair test that was conducted by Irvine Kornfield was compared to those of the nest in Puerto Rico, it was the same. It was classified in the canine family but an unspecified class. Other scientists felt it may have possibly been a hybrid of a coyote or dog. And the mange theory was still in question for some. But others didn't feel the same. They felt this could be a new species.

Meanwhile, Ken decided to go on a hunt for the creature with wildlife expert and friend, Lee Hails. They set up motion sensing cameras, sprayed the area down in coyote urine, put out bait, and waited. They managed to capture an opossum. Something else was captured in the camera but was undetermined to be that of the creature they were hoping to capture. They tried again but were unsuccessful in catching the animal. They found evidence of scrapings left on a fence and bait that was taken away. Whatever it was that made away with the bait was not captured. They decided to pack up and leave. Two weeks later, Philis Canion found another dead creature like the last one she found on the road, and took photos. It had enormous claws and teeth.

In the final analysis, the test showed that the Elendorf, Texas tooth sample and the Puerto Rico hair samples had identical DNA sequences and were matched up to domestic dog. But the Cuero sample showed by mitochondrial DNA (female lineage), sample was coyote, and the Y chromosome is similar to wolves DNA. Although wolves have been extinct in Texas, they have been seen in neighboring states. It is thought that some crossbreeding may have taken place here and the result is possibly wolf and coyote. Or dog hybrid. But without the skin analysis to prove there is mange, the mystery of this creature's origin is still unclear.

Other Images

Photo Credit: Cryptonaut http://www.flickr.com/photos/cryptonaut/4035517563/

Widely Circulated Chupacabra Hoax Photo

What the...

In Conclusion

There are those that have come face to face with the Chupacabra. To those who have witnessed the carnage it leaves in its path, they believe it is no dog, but can't say just what it is. Philis Canion feels it is a whole new breed of canine that is more aggressive.

To those eyewitnesses in Puerto Rico, the creature known as Chupacabra is a fearful bloodsucking monster and they believe it is no dog that is killing their livestock. To those who have never seen the creature but know of its existence, it will continue to be a mystery that captures the minds of many, and to other skeptics, it is nothing more than a pure hoax and nothing more.

So is the Chupacabra fact or fantasy? Perhaps science will solve the mystery one day. Or possibly the legend of the Chupacabra will remain unsolved, further filling us with dark uncertainty. And where there is uncertainty, there are unanswered questions that will keep many of us wondering about this strange bloodsucking creature called Chupacabra.

CNN News Clip Of The Chupacabra

Home Video of Chupacabra Sighting

Copyright © Sylvia Zimmer

Special thanks to Umit Kusadasi at:
http://forum.kusadasi.biz/thread18789.html

Also: Larry and Flo, and Thomas Roche for their images.

Sources:

Chupacabra
Monster Quest Various

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