Today’s blog is a special request from a fan! We’ll be talking about a strange legendary beast from the 20th century along with some recent clues to who/what this creature may be!
A little background into today’s blog, a fan requested a topic and while it’s interesting, I didn’t figure it was quite enough for a full episode. I’ve always been fascinated with the supernatural and all mythology so when our fan messaged asking for the chupacabra, I decided we could do a whole podcast on some mythical creatures who are viewed on the more dangerous side because we all know I’m apparently into mass destruction! But as I dug into the research I learned some interesting stuff so it’s all just on the Chupacabra!
Chupacabra
Let’s get started. The Chupacabra has been seen in Mexico, the southern US, and even China. The legend of the Chupacabra began in March of 1995 on the island of Puerto Rico. The English translation of Chupacabra is “goat sucker”. It has been described in many ways including a reptilian kangaroo or a monkey/gorilla with large red eyes that stands upright. There were also reports of dog-like looks but still with those red eyes and very little to no hair. This creature, no matter the looks, has been believed to be responsible for over 1,000 animal deaths within a year. There were a lot of reports of animals, mostly smaller livestock like sheep, goats, chickens, and smaller domestic animals like dogs, cats, rabbits, were found drained of blood. A few accounts even say the Chupacabra was responsible for the death of a cow or horse. But its typical victims were smaller animals.
Even though this legend is newer than what I think of as a legend, it was a little interesting reading some of the supposed sightings of the Chupacabra. Even in the 21st century people still believe in mythical beasts! Anyway, let's talk about some of the accounts of the Chupacabra. Like I said the animals were always found drained of blood. Many were found with simple puncture wounds on the body and drained of blood. Think vampire-like.
In an article by Washington Post in 1995, were a couple eye witness accounts like that of Misael Negron were reported in America. Misael was a 25 year old college student at the time of the interview. He described the creature who attacked the family goat, disemboweled it and then drained it of its blood like this, “I was looking off the balcony one night, and I saw it step out of a bright light in the backyard. It was about three or four feet tall with skin like that of a dinosaur. It had bright red eyes the size of hen's eggs, long fangs and multi-colored spikes down its head and back.” Many believed this description was based on the movie Species that had recently been released in theaters. To be honest, I’ve never watched the movie so I couldn’t say if that is similar or not.
Due to the amount of reports and terror the Chupacabra was causing, the government did step in and launch an investigation. A veterinarian by the name of Carlos Soto, examined the remains of the bloodless animals. He recounts his findings to the Washington Post like this, “In each case the cause of death were two deep puncture wounds under the right side of the neck," Soto said. "The wounds extended into the animals' brains, killing them instantly. The wounds were about the diameter of a drinking straw, and three to four inches in length. They weren't compatible with the bite of a dog, a monkey or any animal I've ever studied." He also reported that none of these animals showed signs of rigor mortis, not even a rabbit that was brought in 12 hours after it was drained of blood.
Gina’s Macabre Moment
As the year went on, the attacks seemed to get more gruesome and the creature seemed to change shape. Reports in later part of 1995 and into 1996, describe the creature as more dog-like. I read a few articles from 2010 that still reported the same creature. And as recently as June 2022 a zoo in Texas caught footage of a Chupacabra. In the later parts of 1995, animals were not only drained of blood, but many were found with holes cut into them such as one account on the death of a younger cow. It is said the cow had been drained of blood from puncture wounds, but also had its teats, genitals, and anus removed. The even stranger part is that the wounds from removal were perfectly circular that even the finest surgeon wouldn’t be able to perform. Also in the later reports, several calves were found with the entire hides removed.
The less macabre and more interesting thing about the more recent Chupacabras, is unlike more mythical creatures, people have reported corpses of the creature. Scientists have been able to identify the creature. Now there are of course some conspiracy theories out there about the chupacabra also such as its a government experiment gone wrong and escaped. Or that large vampire bats had somehow been on board a cargo ship landing in Puerto Rico. The lackluster part of the story is that all the corpses that have been reported as Chupacabras have turned out to be a coyote or domestic dog suffering from a severe case of mange. On rare occasions they have turned out to be a wolf with mange. The only thing that confuses me about the chupacabra being a mange ridden canine is why does it only drink blood. Canines eat meat so they would have also torn up the animal for its meat instead of just going for the blood.
This of course led me down the path of researching mange in canines to see if it changed their appetite which it doesn’t. Mange is caused by an eight legged mite in the same family as scabies. It’s a mite that gets under the skin to lay eggs. When the eggs hatch the young feed on the skin. The skin becomes inflamed and red. If left untreated, the animal will lose hair and itch excessively. Yellow crusty scabs appear. In severe cases, the skin thickens and can cause lymph node inflammation or severe weakness. So mange doesn’t change an animal's appetite, but some may argue that the animal may drink the blood because it is too weak to tear into the flesh of its victim. So I guess it’s up to you guys to determine if the Chupacabra is in fact real or a myth.
And there you have the hi-story of the Chupacabra! Thanks for reading! And remember to catch the hilarious retelling of this story on our podcast located on all major streaming services!
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