“Texas Chupacabras” Goes on Exhibit
Posted by: Loren Coleman on October 21st, 2009
Boy, am I tired of hearing people incorrectly use the word “Chupacabra,” instead of the right way of sharing what someone might wish to about the Chupacabras. I see the continued use of “Chupacabra” as a mix of laziness and xenophobia.
I talked about this way back when I first began writing at Cryptomundo in 2005, in my piece, “Chupawhat?”
Beside the fact that all the Chupacabras found in Texas turn out to be usually mangy canids (e.g., dogs, coyotes, foxes), the double insult these days is that they are also termed “Chupacabra.” Ugh.
Now one of these poor dead dogs has gone on exhibition. It was only a matter of time before this would happen. Oh well, now maybe someone can more definitely identify which breed it is.
Phoenix man claims the Chupacabra exists and he has proof in new exhibit
Much like the Loch Ness monster, there’s the legend of the Chupacabra.
Is the creature real or fake?
One man says it does exist and he has proof.
Alex Dunbar takes a look.
The Chupacabra myth has been called “the Bigfoot of South America”. It’s said to be blood sucking animal that preys on livestock.
It’s seen in shaky internet video and police footage
It’s also in science fiction movies
And it’s even menaced Scooby Doo and the gang.
Now John Adolfi from Phoenix says he may have proof, “This chupacapra was found in Blanco, Texas, it was preserved, it was taxidermied immediately, it is in perfect condition.“
He didn’t want to reveal the whole thing yet because he’s showing it as an exhibit in the lost world museum in downtown Phoenix starting Sunday. He says It’s the only preserved Chupacabra in the United States.
He’s also displaying bones that may come from other Chupacabras, photos and other research.
Ron Giegerich is an expert on mammals at Suny Esf and is skeptical after looking at our pictures of Adolfi’s specimin, “I believe if some scientists did some dna analysis on this we might find out it’s just a domestic dog, possibly a mutt.“
Adolfi says he thinks there may be an explanation but there are too many strange characteristics to the sample to say what it is exactly, “This is probably a mutation or a cross breed of two animals but until we get more evidence for scientists to study we’re not going to know really.“
Even Ron Giegerich was intrigued, “Hearing that he’s got this mounted specimen, these other bones, possibly a skull, I would certainly be interested in taking a look.“
If you want to see the Chupacapra for yourself, the exhibit is open from 4-8pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays in October—and of course on Halloween.Alex Dunbar
CNN
Hey, CNN, it’s Chupacabras. Hispanic America is the wave of the future, and it’s about time the media learned some of the basics about the proper name for Hispanic cryptids too.
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.
I think it’s a tad disingenuous for the man to call it a Chupacabra when in the next breath he concedes that it is most likely a “mutation” or “cross-breed”.
The sensational chupacabras stories with their horrible misspellings drive me crazy as well Lauren. I have seen the pictures, and I believe it is a canid with some kind of mange or skin disorder that has caused all of the hair to fall out. Maybe a Mexican Wolf, Coyote, or Hybrid dog cross. Since we are seeing these creatures, capturing them on video, and even capturing or killing them, why is more testing not done?
Yes, the “chupacabra” misspellings do run against the grain, and are almost as bad as someone writing my name with the female spelling “Lauren.” LOL.
~ Loren
What a charlatan. That being in the U.S.A. can’t some decent and litigious citizen sue this fraud?
Thank you for not just letting this kind of laziness slide Loren.
Viva los chupacabras!
@Jmonkey
Analysis has been done on other samples. They’ve all come back as dog or at least canid (I seem to remember one that may have had some markers indicating a dog/coyote cross somewhere in its ancestry). I want to say analysis was done during one of the MonsterQuest episodes that showed those coy-dog results, but don’t hold me to that. It could have been one of the other “searching for…” type shows.
this is pretty pathetic this is like finding a dead black bear with mange and calling it Bigfoot
The main thing that has always bothered me about claiming a candid is El Chupacabras is basically that there is a body left to investigate. I have the happiest, tamest “puppy” (5 years old and still thinks she is a puppy) in the world, but if she ever began attacking other animals there would only be parts of the victim left. It is not in dog programming to just drink the blood or to leave its prize right in the open, let alone leave all for everyone to see. Whether descendants of wolves, coyotes or foxes all candids eat the meat. El Chupacabras must be something else. Would the chicken tarantula be big enough?
I misspelled your name while talking about misspellings. What a dummy I am.
I’m not sure you can call it xenophobic. It’s common place among hispanohablantes to use “chupacabra” as well, be it from an aspirated “s” as one finds in Puerto Rico or some other cause. Want proof? Google this phrase “Creo en el Chupacabra” and see how many hits you get from message boards, blogs, and the like where native speakers are using this spelling.
Just when did the upright, two legged, red eyed, blood sucking creature with spines running down its back, turn into a hairless canine.
It’s not as though there are any similarities between the two animals.
But whatever it is, it ain’t the chupacabras of legend
I’m going to go against the grain here and argue for the use of Chupacabra. If you compare languages of groups of people that interact, you are bound to find many words that have slightly different spellings to fit with the form of the rest of the language. Chupacabra is more in line with the English pluralization rules, so it makes more sense to Americans to call the cryptid by that name. I think it’s fair that we allow the terminology to develop naturally. Time to shut down my computadora, so I’ll leave it at that.
There is a good film about what I think is the same animal as above. Clearly not the chupacabras of evil repute but still interesting in its own right. Does needs another name, like maybe ‘The Graidog’.
The very well reported and informative film is not for the sqeamish!
I just realized you folks are talking about the chewpoohcabrass.
I have to agree with alkaline217. I will use a personal experience to make my point.
I used to work with a little girl named Selena when I worked in the Migrant Head Start Program. Her name was spelled Selena. Yet her parents called her Selenas. I wanted to make sure the child’s name was correct, so I asked to double check her documents. I explained why. The parents smiled and told me it was a cultural thing to add the ‘s’ in company or in public; but I still checked and her name was Selena.
So after your post about the misspelling of it, I tried to find an authentic definition of the word. I have found it both with an s and without. More often without. Even some hispanic sites without the ‘s’. So I would say it is acceptable to spell it either way.
This is just pitiful. Has this person ever read reports about the chupacabras? This thing is reportedly terrifying and near demonic. What he has is ugly,deformed and gross, alright. As most DOGS would be after living in the wild. I hope he isn’t planning on charging a fee for this exibit. Is there some law aganst misleading the public?