April 8, 2014
We talked about this here on Cryptomundo last week: “Chupacabra” Caged
But as Nick Redfern posited back in January here on Cryptomundo, The Chupacabras: Which One?, why are people even calling this a “Chupacabra”?
Well, the couple that trapped the “Chupacabra” have put it down.
Couple who claimed they caught a live chupacabra, chooses to have the animal euthanized
The animal had a hairless back, large teeth, and an unusual growl. Some commenters speculated that the creature’s behavior of holding food with its front paws proved it was most likely a hairless raccoon or porcupine. They pointed to a November 2011 Vero News report about Florida’s Vero Beach Animal Control, which caught and identified another mysterious animal as a hairless raccoon. The South Texas creature appeared to have physical characteristics similar to the Florida hairless raccoon.
But Arlen Parma, a fellow Ratcliffe resident, refuted the notion that the Stocks’ animal was a raccoon saying, “You know I hunted coons you know, 20 years with dogs and all that and I ain’t never seen nothing that looks like that right there.” Parma added that the beast had a distinctive growl. “Coon don’t make that noise, or a possum. What makes that noise? I guess the chupacabra does. I don’t know,” Parma told the station.
Wildlife Diversity Biologist Brent Ortego from Texas Parks and Wildlife told KAVU, “The animal in the cage as best I can tell from the view is some form of a small canine.” Ortego believed that it was highly likely the animal suffered from mange, which resulted in the animal’s hair loss. The biologist dismissed the theory that the animal was El Chupacabra and said, “It’s never been proven to be a unique species. It was always something out there that allegedly either caused harm or threatened to cause harm to people or their livestock.”
Since the first story by KAVU aired, the Stocks say people from across the country contacted them with questions about the mysterious creature. Because the Dewitt County Game Warden determined the animalto be a raccoon, on Thursday the couple was given 48 hours to either release the animal or euthanize it, or they would face fines. NBC News reported that on Friday, Mike Cox, spokesman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said, “The land owner left a message on the warden’s voice mail this morning that the animal had been euthanized.” The spokesman said there would be no further actions taken and, “Our agency does not believe chupacabras exist anywhere but in the imaginations of some.”
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
Filed under Bigfoot Report, Chupacabras, Cryptozoology, Evidence, Eyewitness Accounts, Pop Culture, Television, Videos