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A teenage boy in Texas has claimed to have shot and killed a Chupacabra, the infamous “goat sucker” of Cryptozoology. I like how although they claim to have the Chupacabra dead in their backyard, there is still only this grainy, blurry photo. If you claim you have a Chupacabra you really have to get in there with the HD camera, and snap some high res photos and video.
“It just walked across and started shaking, slowly moving across,” Pope said. “No hair on it at all, the back legs were shriveled up, and I honestly think it was a chupacabra.”
Pope said he ran to his parents’ room to wake up his dad to come see what he had discovered.
“I thought, ‘I’m dreaming or this kid is crazy, but probably a little bit of both,’” Pope’s father Will said.
Will said when he came outside with his son, he was amazed by the creature. The animal was about 200 feet away when Pope fired three shots before the animal stopped moving.
Chupacabras are legendary creatures said to roam North America at night. They’ve been occasionally sighted, but never definitively proven real. Some researchers now think that they’re actually just coyotes with severe cases of mange. Barry O’Connor of the University of Michigan explained:
[...] the mite responsible for the extreme hair loss seen in “chupacabras syndrome” is Sarcoptes scabiei, which also causes the itchy rash known as scabies in people. Human scabies is an annoyance, but not usually a serious health or appearance problem, partly because our bodies are already virtually hairless and partly because the population of mites on a given person usually is relatively small—only 20 or 30 mites.
Humans have likely evolved natural defenses for this mite over the years. When we began to domesticate dogs, we likely spread the mites to them. When the mites then transfer to wild dogs, such as foxes, wolves and coyotes, the victims appear to be less able to fight them off.[...]
In these unfortunate animals, large numbers of mites burrowing under the skin cause inflammation, which results in thickening of the skin. Blood supply to hair follicles is cut off, so the fur falls out. In especially bad cases, the animal’s weakened condition opens the door to bacteria that cause secondary skin infections, sometimes producing a foul odor. Put it all together, and you’ve got an ugly, naked, leathery, smelly monstrosity: the chupacabras.
Link via Slashdot | Photo by Flickr user justinjohnsen used under Creative Commons license
Whether you are a conspiracy theorist or just like the crazy animals they believe in, you’ll love these cryptozoology toys. Featured creatures include Nessie the Lock Ness monster, Bigfoot, the chupacabra, the mothman and The Jersey Devil (who was new to me). But where’s the abominable snowman?
Link Via Boing Boing
