Kentucky’s White Vampire
Posted by: Loren Coleman on October 26th, 2007
October 7 – An unknown animal is killing the dogs near Danville, Ky., by cutting a hole in the throat and sucking the blood out of the body. It is said to be an immense white animal, unlike anything ever before seen. It is of the greyhound pattern, but larger in every way, being about four feet high and six long.A Ferocious Beast, Waterloo [Iowa] Courier, October 7, 1891.
Thanks for this historical item from Jerome Clark.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Interesting account, but I suspect highly over sensationalized. I am guessing the corpses were drained dry? The physiology required for an animal to drain all of the blood from an animal the size of a dog would highly unlikely in my opinion. It would be quite a feat. Even known animals that subsist entirely on blood, like the vampire bats, come nowhere near draining their prey completely of blood (granted they taste from much larger animals, but even if they did feed off animals their own size, they would not suck them dry). Even if this creature was bigger than the dogs, I find it improbable. “Vampire” stories are good yarns, but I feel the possibility of an animal of the size described equipped with the drastic anatomy needed to pull such a thing off is low. Unless it is something supernatural, in which case it is likely beyond our present ability to study anyway and to me puts it outside the realm of cryptozoology’s scope.
Albino chupacabra of some type?
great new article about kentucky s white vampire. thanks bill green 🙂
White animal thats similar to a greyhound but larger?
A ‘Borzoi’ (a dog breed) is what first comes to mind:
http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/breedinformation/hound/images/borzoi.jpg
except they arent 4’x6′ of course… no dog is. But people tend to exaggerate a lot on sizes of animals they see. I have had people describe spiders that ‘were huge like tarantulas’ that were 1/2″ barn spiders…. or scream a ‘enormous’ 1-foot-long garter snakes that were gonna suffocate them. So I don’t take size descriptions too literally.
And I don’t doubt that a large uncommon dog breed, especially if seen from a distance, can be over-exaggerated as much bigger than it is.
Though of course, Borzois (or any dog) do not tear holes in throats and suck blood dry.
There haven’t been actual eye-witnesses of the large white animal sucking dogs’ blood has there?
I would say it might be humans slitting animals’ throats (Halloween is coming up, and there are a lot of sickos out there who still do weird animal sacrifices like this around halloween)
and perhaps there’s a neighborhood stray dog that’s just being the assumed culprit?
CrimsonFox79- That is a very good observation about the Borzoi. A large one might be a surprising sight for someone not used to seeing this breed, as it is not a conventional looking dog. This might make them inclined to over exaggerate the size. I also think you are very right in your idea of what might have happened. Someone is killed, throat slit, and a dog just happens to be seen lapping up the blood. Dogs do not suck blood, but they wouldn’t have any problem with lapping it off of a wound especially if they were hungry. To a shocked observer, the licking of the blood from the cut could easily be misinterpreted for it sucking the blood. I think your idea is a very sound and rational one. It makes sense and is definitely a possible explanation.
Gravedigger?
Didn’t say red ears, though, or I’d say a Hound of Annwn 😉