A Vark Hond, or a Namibian Hogzilla?

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/article/244107/82/Hybrid-Dog-Headed-Pig-Terrorizes-Africa

Hybrid Dog Headed Pig Terrorizes Africa

NAMIBIA -- Residents in northern Namibia, on the southwest coast of Africa, have reported being terrorized by a bizarre dog-pig hybrid creature.
The animal is said to be mostly white and unlike anything the villagers have ever seen, with a doglike head and the broad, round, nearly hairless back and shoulders of a giant pig.
The beast was spotted chasing and attacking dogs, goats and other domestic animals in this arid region not far from the Kalahari desert.
As often happens when rumors of monsters spread in rural areas around the world, some locals have taken extra safety precautions, such as traveling in groups and arming themselves with weapons.
In 1995 and 1996, some Puerto Ricans armed themselves against the vampire beast el chupacabra; last year, Malaysian residents patrolled the streets searching for the mysterious orang minyak, or "oily man" creature that had recently terrorized them.
What could this monster be? One Namibian official, regional councilor Andreas Mundjindi, was quoted in Informante newspaper as saying, "This is an alien animal that the people have not seen before. We don't have a forest here, only bushes. So, this must be black magic at play."

Some people in the area trace the beast to one old man rumored to be a warlock or witch doctor, suggesting it's his pet (or, what witch-hunters hundreds of years ago would have called a "familiar").
The assumption that the beast has magical origins is not surprising. A 2010 Gallup poll found belief in magic widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with more than half of respondents saying they personally believe in witchcraft and sorcery.
This is not the first time that unusual animals have been spotted in rural areas of Namibia; several other monsters have been reported over the years, including in July 2009, when unknown creatures reportedly sucked the blood out of livestock, including nearly two dozen goats.
Though no one saw the monsters, they were said to have left footprints similar to those of a dog, but much larger. Police followed the footprints, but they mysteriously stopped in an open field, as if the creature suddenly took flight or vanished.
At that time, locals were also convinced that the strange beast was the product of black magic - going so far as to accuse an old man and his sister of conjuring the creature.
It's not clear whether locals believe that the current dog-headed, pig-bodied animal is the same mystery creature that terrorized the region three years ago.
Whether the reports are real or rumor, hopefully belief in these creatures won't be used as an excuse for mob attacks on elderly men and women suspected of witchcraft.

--In this case it seems quite obvious to me that what we have is a quite ordinary feral hog with mixed pig-boar characteristics, a round body short on hair that looks like a domesticated pig and a long-snouted head with large fangs like a wild boar's head that reminds local people of a dog's head. Please bear in mind most of the locals would only have SEEN domesticated swine and the sight of a wild boar's head would probably come as a shock to most of them.

At left, Wild boar cross with "Doglike" fangs: at right, wild boar cross with thinner hair on body.


And the 2009 "Apparition" (if it should be called such) was once again a case of feral dogs at work and leaving recognizable dog tracks. Calling it a "Chupacabras attack" would be as wrong as any other time such feral dog attacks would be called "Chupacabras", but at least it would be consistent.

Best Wishes, Dale D.

Honduras Chupacabras-Folklore Page I Mentioned Before

Translation of the Chupacabras-Original Folklore Page I Mentioned Before: it took me forever to locate this page again. I had wanted to print it before that nasty business with Benjamin Radford started. This page has been on the internet for ages:

Legends Of Honduras
http://www.honduraseducacional.com/Cultura/leyendas.htm

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...........

The Sisimite
This being was recorded years ago, was seen by several people, only they were all people in the field, it is the perfect place for such beings, very mysterious and elusive. Even now Sisimite fully understood.
The Sisimite is comparable to the U.S. Bigfoot or Yeti of the Himalayas. Of course, being in a tropical climate is expected to be some differences.
The Sisimite also known by the name of Itacayo . Command a recreation of that have to be:
He eats fruit.
It is said that one of the departments of our country called Danlí appears like the Dwendi goes in search of young farmers to steal them.
The time to make the hunting exploits of the young is when the corn is gathered the maize (corn). Using corn is very high at high speed is camouflaged with great skill and takes his victim to his cave that is not easily accessible if it is found.
He has great strength and makes them strong as a howler monkey grunts. Once you have the young woman says that he has to have his children, pregnant girls giving birth to a creature half human, half beast.
He knows all this because it is known only one woman managed to escape from the clutches of Sisimite though it cost him the monster that had given birth to the grotesque being.
Young people, do not go alone to the corn as it can that they are observing Sisimite and plotting how to take them to their rooms.
Another version of Sisimite

THE Sisimite
Like their cousins ​​in the snow, the Yeti of Tibet and the Bigfoot U.S. and Canada, the Sisimite is another of those creatures that appear out of nowhere and disappear the same way. According to researcher Honduran Jesus Aguilar Paz,  Sisimite or Itacayo roams the mountains and live in inaccessible caves, feeding on wild fruits in the same way as their close relatives in Mexico and Argentina, the furry and Ucum respectively. "These monsters abducted women, and took them to their caves. It is said that this union were born ape-men." Although discussed in the mountain villages, the story of a woman who escaped from the hideout where she lived with a Sisimite. It is reported to have chased the creature carrying the three children they had in common and showing them to the mother. She managed to cross a river as the beast from the other side, showed him to attract small to achieve. Apparently Sisimite attempts had no effect, so that, enraged, threw the children into water and drowned. Federico Lunardi's Italian friar, one of the most important scholars of the Honduran culture, associated with this creature to God Chac of the Maya, "who holds the sky, the god of water." According to Lunardi, popular belief holds that in the interior of one of these caves, on a wall, are recorded "the hand with his fingers" and several tracks left by Sisimite attending midnight to the cave to sharpen their claws in the rock. [Sisemite's footprints are like human hands, and the fingerlike toes are "clawing" in the cave prints mentiond. I notice that "Apemen" are mentioned as "Children of the Sisemite" and this is a distinction which seems to have escaped Cryptozoologists. The story of the Sisemite's mate is repeated by Sanderson-DD]

The Cadejo
Older people have and some areas of the countryside of our country that this has been true and is true. Many report that they themselves have seen with their own eyes.
Interestingly, the cadejo is an animal (or a spirit or demon in animal form) similar to a dog. To control picture shows them how they were represented.
Cadejo The case is not unique to Honduras, occurs in several Central American countries, but this is the version that has at least in my country.
First the cadejo not a being that comes to you any time of day, no, he comes out only during the wee hours of the night. He is the faithful companion of travelers at night alone. Wherever they come from him the next. Many have quit or stay late sprung up where their girlfriends to play or socialize with friends ... in short, so many situations that we continue with our story better.
As I said the cadejo follows the walker and sometimes a person perceives their presence and see what turns a small dog comes along so you do not pay any attention to his presence, but progresses as the person realizes faster than that for animal never walk that far behind, this more than the animal is becoming larger. People who have been saved by a miracle that reaches the size of a horse, with eyes red as fire and spits fire for their noses.
At this point it is worth mentioning that there are two Cadejo, one white and one black. The white mone is a spirit that accompanies the traveler good night to care for and protect the black cadejo attack. The black cadejo is an evil that follows the night to scare walkers as we have seen, and finally kill him .
When the black cadejo crushing does decide to kill the person, ie not bite, just savagely beats her up to his death or leave it to the brink of death, which is why it is known. It is also interesting that when the black cadejo chasing a walker and comes with white cadejo, the latter takes the size of the black cadejo and engage in a tremendous struggle in which there is biting, hitting, clear, lots of blood. This is known by those who have been fortunate that the white cadejo save their lives.
This is the legend of cadejo. Be careful if you come out at night on the street or in the forest, more if they see a black dog following them, it may be the cadejo.

"Winged Serpent" attacking cattle

THE COMELENGUAS [Tongue-Eaters or Tongue-Removers: "Cattle Mutilations Beast"] 
In the 50's, in Nacaome, south of Honduras, a mysterious creature dreaded by the locals. In Oral Literature of the Southern Zone (Tegucigalpa, 1996), Karen Ramos and Melissa Valenzuela describe how many peasants saw a giant [snake] bird flying over the estates of the town. According to these witnesses, the day after the sightings were few cattle died in strange circumstances. One farmer said that he saw the creature attacking a bull, using his tail, like a thick snake to strangle the animal and eventually tear the tongue. However, this description is inconsistent with other stories in ensuring that the mysterious animal, baptized with the descriptive name of comelenguas left no signs of violence after their attacks. At that time, many farmers complained about the loss of cattle. Invariably, the cattle found dead, his tongue cut off root and dislocated jaws. Similar information was also collected thousands of miles away in the state of Goias (Brazil). The cases occurred in the 40's and had characteristics similar to those that took place in Honduras. These mutilations reminiscent of those that have been associated with the UFO phenomenon or the now famous chupacabras. A close relative is the bird comelenguas-leon, which frightened the inhabitants of the region Sabanagrande. According to tradition, this beast, described as a bird beak large and huge, devouring or crazy to those who had the misfortune to cross his path.
[Interestingly, the description seems to confuse the now easily recognised giant-bat Chupacabras with the Anhinga "Flying Serpent", and then calls them both by the mysterious remover-of-tongues as also reported in Brazil. More info on this below. It seems that the wild dogs are actually eating the tongues out of the already-dead cattle in both areas-DD]

The Timbo
In the early twentieth century, an annoying visitor roamed the cemeteries of the region and Texiguat Sabanagrande. It was the timbo, desecration of graves creature that fed on corpses and was also known as sacamuertos or Comemuertos. [Eaters-of-the-Dead-DD] That being looks like sharp-nosed dog in the face, walked on two legs, had a bulging belly and reddish hair. In this disturbing description added extremely strong arms and huge claws that served to start digging and rooting through graves.   [The name comes from North/Texas and actually turns out to mean "Hairless": and it is like the current Chupacabras in that it is described as a dragon-like lizard about three feet tall or like a mangy dog that roots through graves, and THAT part is probably true at least-DD]

The Crito (screamer)
Like in Brazil, Honduras screamer lives a creature that has never been seen but whose screams break the silence eerie night in the jungles and mountains of the country. In the region of Trujillo and the Sula Valley of several farmers said they heard the piercing screams of this being. "I know all the animals in these mountains and I've never heard anything like it," was what counted most. Some said they were "wandering spirits of men" killed in the trails and streams and shouting his despair.

THE GOLDEN LIZARD (El Lagarto Oro)
  It is said that in the enclave of Piedra Blanca, near Trujillo (Atlantic Coast), there was a cave inhabited by a gold lizard chasing cattle. In the cave, which has paintings, strange noises were heard intimidate the locals. Perhaps the oldest known about this lizard, which is more like a golden crocodile species is the one that goes back to the early years of the conquest, when Spanish soldiers came up to the present municipality of El Corpus and found huge underground amounts of gold. To facilitate the exploitation of precious ore dug a tunnel with a length of approximately 3 miles.
The legend goes that a Holy Thursday, the holes reached the exact spot where now stands the high altar of the church, discovering a green lagoon. At the bottom is moving a huge gold lizard showing its powerful jaws menacingly intruders. [Dragon Myth-probably the same Big Iguana "Cipactli"]

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The Cyclops
Among the Indians of the Mosquito yet unexplored jungle there is a belief in a being that resembles the one-eyed Cyclops. The anthropologist Anne Chapman picked up in the 70 stories that had for this child protagonist and published in his book The Children of the death of the mythical universe Tolupanes-Jicaque of Honduras. One such story goes back to the middle of last century and speaks of an Indian, Julian Velasquez, who declined to be named. He lived near the Laguna Seca (Department of Santa Marta), but traveled to the Atlantic coast in the company of a sorcerer. There he found a tribe of cannibals who had one eye. Julian was captured and was imprisoned along with three ladinos (the name given to whites and mestizos) to be fattened. "They kill with a knife, slaughtered, the meat is eaten fried with butter and throw in a bottle," says one informant Chapman. Julian Velasquez escaped the infamous tribe. Has never heard of such Cyclops.
[The Cyclops story in this case should be regarded as the same as the Mapinguari of Brazil and it is likewise probably a sort of New World Orangutan. The details of how they cook people are not meant to be taken seriously, especially when they throw in a bottle of wine Incidentally, the illustration is very good for my interpretation, it LOOKS like an Orangutan-DD]
 
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ELVES (Dwendis) The elves are the most recurrent fantasy characters in rural Honduras. For farmers it is not no legend, but flesh and bones have been seen rarely. It is believed that this kind of dwarfs happy lives, with their beautiful wives, underground palaces full of treasures. Naughty like most European elves, the Honduran falls easily from the young farmers often blatantly fondling the breasts of pubescent girls.
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http://www.lasegui.com/honduras/comelenguas.html

The Tongue-Remover ​​or Chupacabras

For Pompilio Ortega
Honduran history occurred in 1947.

Cases have been seen in more than a dozen men armed to the nails, were watching in herds of cattle, in perpetual ambush, and after all found the animal dead, without tongues, without blood and without them give account of how it all happened"  Read the first edition of Patriotic Lore, we became aware of new material as interesting as before, but has fascinated us as much as the description of the famous "Tongue-remover" (or "chupacabras") have given us the gift of Messrs. Federico Castillo and Don Miguel Anar, hunted down the first product of this dark Mountain Nature Tascalapa, jurisdiction of Trinidad, in the department of Santa Barbara, and the second here in Comayagua.
Whenever we noticed that in the case where the damage was Tongue-remover  ​​(or chupacabras) never leave visible traces, never heard of the fierce struggle and the victim, not the slightest noise. Cases have been seen in more than a dozen men armed to the nails, were watching in herds of cattle, in perpetual ambush, and after all found the animal dead, without language, without blood and without them noticing how it had all happened. But it is assumed that the fantastic legends have been woven around Tongue-remover ​​(or chupacabras) have made ​​that managers have to hunt more fear than desire to meet him. The evil spirit has been in operation in this matter, which has carried out a horrifying vampire that only occur in the gloomy caverns of the African continent, and possibly in the rugged Amazon. Fortunately there were who said that only three of a huge flock of bats, which disbanded the black continent to come to the lands of Central America, where there is no constrictors, tarantulas or large, or the voracious ants, with the Tongue-remover famous vampire (or chupacabras) and nine-inch scorpion, is the terror for the species

The Cattle-Mutilator ​​or Chupacabras

The vampire as cattle-mutilator (or chupacabras) is a giant bat, the body varies in size, before and after sucking the blood of the animal, being more or less the size of a turkey or jolote, the wings are like a stroke man, has two stomachs, like giving it to ruminants, has a huge vesicle, more than five centimeters in the form of egg secretes a viscous liquid of pungent odor of sulfur and high-powered narcotic. You have full dentures, four large teeth, two above and two below wide, razor sharp, the fanged teeth are thick and long as those in the barracks or as wild pig, which are crossed out on the sides of the jaws . The skin is covered with hair. The legs, which resemble the shape and position to those of the duck nails are so subtle that, as if they were equipped with pumps, hair still cling cattle. At the end of the upper jaw has a way to end a knife, which cuts the artery under the tongue of the cow, and a rosette on the head without hair, with a few ridges, possibly the RADAR, that mentioned above, are provided bats.
[The description strangely mixes features of two different creatures: one is a snakeneckedbird with feathered wings, body about the size of a turkey and with duck feet. This is obviously an anhinga or water-turkey. the other is the standard giant Vampyrum-Chupacabras which we have come to recognise so well-DD]

By a strange coincidence and to the delight of my readers, the two specimens of Cattle-Mutilators (Tongue-Removers or Chupacabras), who stopped sucking blood on our farms, were hunted by two men who the day gathered in my Coyocutena School in November, AD 1947. I know that these two friends are hairy-chested men, and yet Mr. Federico says that what he felt when he killed one of these macabre animals, no longer wants to feel. And my friend Michael, who instead of firearm used his dagger cruise, took good care to make a cross in the air to deliver the first machete, and when his wife was screaming at him not to touch what seemed the very Satan , as the huge vampire was caught with all the extended volume along the corridor of his house, he replied: "If this is the Devil, to confession, because he got his last hour." But that's why engrifársele stop hair when the dagger instead of cutting, with iron winced as when there is blunt on a water bladder. This happened in the village of Montañuelas, Department of Comayagua, near the hacienda of Don Cesar Zavala, Come where the Vampire (or Chupacabras) had just sucking the blood of his latest victim.

Such as that there were only three vampires and the third is possible to migrate when viewed alone, is not something that can be checked, for as you may have come from Africa, may also have left the jungles of unknown and frightening the Amazon basin, where they may keep coming, it is necessary to know how they can hunt, something that can be quite the taste for adventure seekers. The hunter must come between the cattle which is hurting, so that neither the cows feel, when the cattle are in perfect stillness, and the dark night, comes down to reach the head of the cow, while hearing the slightest noise, even the most law wind. At this place empty vampire letting out fine jets gland near the nose, the animal absorbed inadvertently. This fluid out of the gland becomes steam, numbs the victim, and as if this were not enough, the shadow moves three or four times about it, which gives an idea of ​​the vampire has used magnetic force will , with this the animal almost cataleptic state sticks out his tongue, to lick his lips, and this is when the peak-shaped knife is inserted below it and cut the artery, the blood sucking vampire and finally swallowing his tongue cut slowly for a long time since the end remains visible, like a bottle cap. Bats are so subtle in their efforts to draw blood, which passes all weights. In our neighborhood, the family of a peasant was besieged by one of these animals, the desperate father for not being able to hunt, one day he proposed his own hand squeeze. At night covered well each member of the family, leaving him openly, but with the hand ready to grab when approached.Felt when a bat entered the house through the wall, and soon heard the noise indicating he came out and was only then that he felt that the ear was bleeding. The animal was removed from his blood the dose needed and the angry hunter had been sadly deceived.

Understandably, therefore, that the hunter Tongue-Remover ​​(or chupacabras), must be placed very close to where the vampire checks for these operations. I only advise you to tie the pants, not to go out for wool and shearing (1).

(1) The press published a telegram Guaimaca last year (¿1947?), Which said that a man had been on the verge of becoming a victim of a huge vampire, who has already achieved a little faded to death. Is the only case we know in this regard.

More information about the Chupacabra:

• Chupacabra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia .
  "Chupacabras" is the name of a mythological creature that attacks contemporary animals of different species in pastoral areas, agricultural or rural
• Chupacabra - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  The chupacabra (or chupacabras) is a cryptid said to inhabit parts of the Americas. The name translates literally from the Spanish as "goat-sucker". It comes from the creature's habit of attacking and Reported drinking the blood of livestock.
• El Chupacabra, a monster unexplained .
  A mystery travels the countryside, terrorizing the locals, something is killing farm animals by the dozen.
• The Chupacabras in Chile.
  "There are more things in heaven and on earth than those with dreams of your philosophy." W. Shakspeare
• Chupacabras - Misterylink .
  The legend of the chupacabra is not modern, having origins immemorial in the history of peoples.
• Chupacabras: myth or reality
  may seem ridiculous to me to address this issue, but if you look at the issue seriously see a funny phenomenon perhaps not have much.
• The Chupacabra, biting Intelligent Entity .
  The fact that hundreds of animals in the Americas have bled to death under mysterious circumstances is a mystery, until now, has not been resolved.
• Chupacabra - Goat Sucker (Español spoken site).
  Chupacabra Goat Sucker Means. The Chupacabra or Chupacabras is a creature said to inhabit parts of the Americas. The name eating habit of Reported STI from attacking and drinking the blood of livestock.
• The Chupacabras - Mystery solved .
  rational explanation of the mystery of the Chupacabra.
• Chupacabras - Crypt, the world of cryptozoology .
  Named for its predilection for the blood of goats' feeding time.
• Chupacabras - Criptozoología.net .
  In recent years, many countries (especially America) have been visited by a strange phenomenon called "Chupacabras", is said to be a be able to extract all the blood of an animal, making a few small holes in his body.
• How Chupacabras Work .
  bloodsucking creatures of Legends Have Been present in many cultures THROUGHOUT history. One vampire-like creature That Has Been Gaining a considerable amount of notoriety is the Chupacabra.
• The Comelenguas (Tongue-Eater) - The Mysteries of Honduras .
  "It's an animal That pulls out, cuts and eats the tongues of cows. It looks like a large dog, But is bell-shaped (?) and have a long tail. .. "

Mangy Mutt Chupacabras

As far as evidence put forth to support the notion of Chupacabras goes, nearly all of the domesticated animal killings and the second largest category of "Creature" sightings are due to canids, including foxes and coyotes but mostly feral dogs-and nearly all of them suffering from poor treatment, malnutrition and a skin disease (mange). Several of the affected dogs are largely to completely hairless, and the ones that still have any hair left have it mostly on their heads, necks, and spines.

This is not any really new news. There are sites around with such names as "Chupacabras, the Blood-Sucking Dog"

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7129413-mystery-story-about-the-devil-dog-blood-sucking-chupacabra-solved-by-one-or-a-scientist

http://www.nanlimo.com/2010/07/el-chupacabra-blood-sucking-dog.html

http://www.nanlimo.com/2010/07/legend-of-el-chupacabra-dog-vacuum.html


http://travelerhubs.hubpages.com/slide/Chupacabra-Pictures/2452422

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101126141747AAcys6J

Was it really a chupacabra the blood sucking dog I saw this evening, when driving home from work?

I live in Tuscola Texas, just off highway 83. I work as a state ranger, which I do a 2 day shift, as we rarely get any trouble around there. I was driving home from work this evening, between rows of trees, no more than a mile from my house. My radio was buzzing as it usually does. My marshal calling into me now and then, and the beating of my wind screen wipers, which were wiping the dust which was blasting up onto my wind screen. My gun was holstered, a Glock 21, 9mm. All I could remember was that I was hot, and tired. I turned into a slight bend when I saw this black object cross my path, I stopped the car, turned on the wipers once more to wipe the dust from the wind screen, and I saw a dog. A hairless dog. I don't know whether it was a trick of the mind, but it's eyes were glowing mild red, not a strong red, a mild cinnamon brownish red color. I took out my pistol, as we're all told to shoot wild dogs, as most of the people in this area keep chickens and poultry. I opened the door of my car, and as the top of the door blocked my view, I couldn't see for a split second, when I stand up fully, the dog is no more than a few feet away. It's eyes are not glowing now, but it looks more like a hairless greyhound. It stand on it's rear legs, and hisses. I pull the trigger 8 times into it's chest. All I could remember then was blood which seemed to flow endlessly under my car. The dogs head was facing towards my right, I ducked under the roof of my car to tell my marshal I'd killed some sort of wild dog, when I stood up again, it's head was facing left. I slammed the door so hard, locked them, and sped off down that road, I didn't stop till I got home, my wife is worried about me, as I'm very shaken up recently, I've taken a few sleeping pills to keep me sleeping. I don't want to tell her what I saw, as I do not want to worry her, we all have heard of chupacabras around Texas, they're a famous blood sucking dog to remind you again, please, any answers would be great, just take the stress off my mind.

Additional Details

I'll probably go back tomorrow, with my buddy Dave Newman.

1 year ago

by Stephani... Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

The chupacabra is mainly described, as a hairless dog. it is a mutated animal between a dog and somehow a kangaroo. its hind leg are slightly longer, thats why they stand on their legs wen in defense , so it could run as fast as a fast moving car. it has teeth sharper than dogs. i got all this info on the history channel on YouTube.

One of the more succinct summaries of the matter:
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0901-chupacabra.html


Photos of alleged blood-sucking chupacabra found in Texas
mongabay.com
September 1, 2007
[update: probably a xolo dog]

Legendary blood-sucking beast found in Texas? Or is it just a dog gone wild?

Phylis Canion, a woman in Texas, believes she may have found the mythical blood-sucking chupacabra as roadkill near her ranch, reports the Associated Press.
The animal, described by Canion as "a cross between two or three different things", was discovered last month. The beast resembles a dog but is mostly hairless with big ears and large fanged teeth.
"It is one ugly creature," Canion told the Associated Press, "I've seen a lot of nasty stuff. I've never seen anything like this."

Frozen head of a so-called Chupacabra in Cuero, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Phylis Canion examines the head (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Canion believes the animal is the chupacabra, a cryptid beast known in rural folklore in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the United States. Its name translates to "goat sucker" from its alleged penchant of drinking the blood of livestock like a vampire. The Chupacabra is sometimes blamed for the disappearance and loss of goats, chickens and other farm animals.
Frozen head of a so-called Chupacabra in Cuero, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Canion says she has lost up to 26 chickens in recent years, possibly as the result of the chupacabra.
After finding the roadkill, she put the beast's head in her freezer for later DNA testing.

At least one local veterinarian is skeptical that the beast in Canion's freezer is the so-called chupacabra.
"I'm not going to tell you that's not a chupacabra. I just think in my opinion a chupacabra is a dog," Travis Schaar of the Main Street Animal Hospital in nearby Victoria, who has seen Canion's find, was quoted as saying. He believes it may just be an unusual breed of dog that prefers to let its prey blood out before feeding.
[Emphasis added by DD]

Nevertheless the sighting has spurred brisk sales in chupacabra apparel in the small Texas town of Cuero.
"If everyone has a fun time with it, we'll keep doing it," she told the AP. "It's good for Cuero."
Not the first chupacabra frenzy

Phylis Canion showing a photo of what she is calling a Chupacabra at her home in Cuero, Texas, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Canion's find is not the first time the carcass of a strange animal has stirred up a chupacabra frenzy. According to Wikipedia, in July 2004, a rancher near San Antonio killed a hairless dog-like creature, which was attacking his livestock. This creature was later determined to be a malformed coyote. Similarly in 2006 an apparent feral dog was killed in Maine. At the time it was reputed to be a "killer mutant beast."
The legend of the chupacabra dates back to 1987 when Puerto Rican newspapers El Vocero and El Nuevo Dia reported on mysterious deaths of animals. Puerto Rican comedian Silverio Pérez is credited with coining the term "chupacabra."

Species Identified: Xoloitzcuintle breed of dog

Regarding the "chupacabra" story: I believe I can clarify the identity of this animal, and some research on the internet would do the same for anyone. It is a Xoloitzcuintle, Xolo for short, otherwise known as a Mexican Hairless dog. They are an unusual and rare breed, but a DOG nevertheless. I own a lovely one, and assure you he doesn't suck the blood of anything. Ludicrous.
What may be most disturbing is that three of these xolos were found as "roadkill", and xolos are very, very uncommon - and not feral in the US! This suggests to me that someone is breeding xolos and dumping "undesirable" dogs.
Finally, Phylis Canion may claim she knows exotic animals, but it appears what she really knows is marketing. [The press is] helping her make a bundle off a dead xolo that appears to have been malnourished and parasite-filled before it died.
For dog lovers like me, [the story is] truly vile.
Thanks for your time.
Best regards,
Claire
Related articles

Chupacabra story is a hoax; likely a Xolo dog breed
(9/4/2007) An alleged chupacabra carcass found in Texas is likely a hoax to sell T-shirts say dog experts. The animal, described in an Associated Press report last week as "a cross between two or three different things", was found as road kill last month near the Texas town of Cuero. The woman who discovered the carcass has been using it to market chupacabra T-shirts. In lively Internet discussions dog breeders say the carcass appears to be that of a Xoloitzcuintle or Xolo, otherwise known as a Mexican Hairless dog, rather than the blood-sucking creature of legend.
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[Travis Schaar's statement made in the article above (which I have highlighted to give it emphasis) sums up the official point of view that many of us agree with. Chupacabras killings and animal mutilations are mostly the work of sickly wild dogs that may feel the need to drink blood to regain their strength, an thus go through the peculiar act of letting their prey drain out so that they can lap the blood up before eating the rest. This is most possible although it is also true that the blood will settle in the body in a short time and leave an apparently "Bloodless" corpse. In this case, the "Chupa" was almost definitely a Xolo or Mexican Hairless dog.-DD]

So what evidence do we have that Chupacabras are due to mangy wild dogs of different sorts?

Well, for one thing, Witnesses have caught them in the act (reconstruction in the artwork at the top of this posting), for another thing, these Chupacabras leave dog tracks (as above) Furthermore, the prey is commonly killed the way a dog would kill it, toothmarks correspond to the pattern of dog teeth left in a standard dog's bite mark, and we continue to find the dead bodies of Mangy Dog Chupacabras (below)

Several photos taken from the previously-noted Chupacabras article by "Cryptozoologist" and showing what looks to be fairly typical damage as done by dogs. The "Cryptozoologist" article notes different types of "Chupacabras", as does the Wikipedia, but the type that is most like a mangy dog is usually the second most numerous kind as far as sightings go. On the other hand, the feral-dog or Canid sightings are noted over a much larger area geographically speaking and probably should be simply stated to be worldwide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra

"Another description of chupacabras, although not as common, describes a strange breed of wild dog. This form is mostly hairless and has a pronounced spinal ridge, unusually pronounced eye sockets, fangs, and claws... Unlike conventional predators, the chupacabras is said to drain all of the animal's blood (and sometimes organs) usually through three holes in the shape of an upside-down triangle or through one or two holes"

Actually the tooth marks reported in Chupacabras cases conform to the shape of dog's teeth and this has been confirmed in official statements made after scientific investigations on Chupacabras attacks. The shape of the holes in the dog's leg below are also consistent with the toothrow of a large dog the concave sides of the toothrow shown in the bitemark on the smaller dog's leg acn be seen in the typical dog's tooth pattern of this dead "Chupacabras".

As far as photos go, I can well believe this is a porcupine up a tree, retouched to add fangs to it.

This is the "Chupacabras" photo suggested by twasbrillig in response to the last Chupacabras posting on this blog, together with the fuller version of the original. It has also been retouched, to my eye by taking out some of the "dark" area in a process of reverse-painting using some appropriate chemical. I have painted "Devils" in the background of pictures for my own amusement before using the process. The original image could very well have been a black bear from the looks of it. The "head" and "tail" are the most-modified.

Below, an impression of Chupacabras variant reports from DeviantArt and posted by kjmarch.

The first is based on a large-bat sighting and the second and fourth are based on dog sightings.

Best Wishes, Dale D.

'Chupacabras' before Chupacabras

Up until recently the name 'Chupacabras' did not refer to the bizarre cryptid it is defined as any more. Recently, Benjamin Radford explained what he took to be the 'Origin of the Chupacabras' in a Puerto Rican woman's recollection of a recent horror film at the time. Because of the H. R. Giger-inspired monster in the movie, that woman produced a sketch Radford claims became the template for all the other 'Chupacabras' sightings from then on.


The Radford Explanation: witness's sketch above and the monster "sil" from the movie SPECIES.


Only there is more than one thing being called a chupacabras, as I have explained before on earlier CFZ blog entries. And because of that we have more than one origin story.















Chupacabras-dog such as is the common type in Texas: and Mexican Hairless Dogs



Here is the passage I posted in the group when I first found out about the reptilian-chupacabras being folkloric in Mexico, posted in October of 2009 (before I found it I thought it had been 2008) I later reprinted the entire text from the site and I am still looking for that message. One of the names as I recall was Timbo. There is also an exactly equivalent tradition in Northern Argentina.

I always regretted NOT posting the illustration from the originating site, but it was very small and attempts to blow it up did nothing for the quality of the photo.

... I saw a Mexican Folklore page (in Spanish) where the Reptile-Chupacabras was called by the name of a traditional "Grave robber". That would have been the first version I had heard of in connection to animal mutilation[sheep, in Navajo country] cases in the SW in the 1970s, and in fact it has separately become a standard monster in the Dungeons and Dragons FRPG game, as the "Bonesnapper", another small-dinosaur representation. Until I saw the Mexican Folklore page I had no inkling that the creature was actually out of documented Folklore.

And then last night I had an important additional piece of information, which I added to the original message:

I did a little more research and I found out that the name does not originate in Mexico but in Texas, and it is a Comanche word meaning "Hairless." Hence it was an appropriate name for a hairless dog as well as a reptile. I am not certain how widely circulated the name was in earlier days, but I assume it was once synonymous with the creature sometimes called "Mountain Boomer" (The first proper name I knew for the creature, but actually a mis-applied name for the collared lizard, which likewise runs on its hind legs)

So anyway that nails down that particular loose end.
Best Wishes, Dale D.

(Common mountain boomer or collared lizard. The cryptid version is said to stand up 2-4 feet high on its hind legs and to have exaggerated crests down its back. The cryptid version was being blamed for cattle mutilations back in the mid-1970s, Personal Information.)

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