Chupacabra -- revisited

The recent article on the critter which Ricky Sklar shot -- chupacabra or not -- generated some interesting comments from our readers. Three residents in wooded areas of the northeastern portion of our county reported that they, too, had encountered and killed similar animals. A Nucor employee claims to have struck one with his car, and didn’t know what it was.

Glenn Morgan was especially interested in sharing notes with Sklar, because he had seen and later shot something very similar. "The first time I saw it, I couldn't believe what I'd seen at first. There was a big ol' doe chasing it by my horse barn. I figured that thing must've killed her little one." Morgan, who owns donkeys and a variety of poultry, has not lost any animals under mysterious circumstances, but decided to try to destroy the predator. He did not get a chance to shoot the animal at that time, but did get the opportunity the next morning.

Like Sklar's varmint, Morgan stated that this one, too, was blueish/ greyish in color. He went on to say, "I didn't know what this was, but I knew it was no coyote. I've shot them before, and this just didn't LOOK like a coyote. It was bigger, more muscular, and the head didn't look nothing like a coyote." Morgan also mentioned a pecular odor ("It stunk like the dickens!") which was one reason he destroyed the carcass. "I wasn't gonna load that thing up and haul it to town!" he stated emphatically. A few days later a neighbor's son was telling Glenn that he had seen something he could not identify running through his pasture, and Morgan assured him that it had "been taken care of."

Whether these mysterious critters are, indeed, something other than poor, mangy coyotes is still a matter of speculation. Tales of chupacabras (literally translated "goat suckers", and a creature of legend in South America) seem to be popping up quite frequently in Texas. That could be attributed to the increase in the Hispanic population here, since they are most familiar with the chupacabra myths. Internet stories and a television special entitled "Monsters" could also account for the increasing interest.

Over fifty respondents to this newspaper's on-line poll (www.leoncountytoday.com) were divided in their opinion on the identity of the animal in the photo. Twenty percent stated that they believe in chupacabras and thought this was one. Another twenty percent chimed in with a definite "maybe", while 53% were in the "mangy, dead coyote" camp. (Our editor's query, "What have they done to Gollum?" drew a couple of votes from the literary crowd!)