July 27, 2007
This “Chupacabras” Is No Mystery
Frankly, I get so tired of these Texas (and other states’) “chupacabra” stories, that these annual versions of the Chupacabras have become non-mysteries. I figured my Cryptomundo-mate Craig would post on his home state’s latest, and he has here, a few moments ago.
It’s hot, the season is right, and “they” have turned up for years now. This latest one looks like a coyote, perhaps a fox, with mange.
Mange is a parasitic infestation of the skin caused by mites. Mange comes in two forms, red mange (not generally contagious) and sarcoptic mange. Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious infestation of Sarcoptes scabiei canis, a burrowing mite. (Yes, the thought is creepy.) The canine sarcoptic mite is not a good neighbor, and can also infest you and your cats, as well as other contacted mammals, whether they are wild or domestic.
Ugh. It’s that time of a year again, when the mange causes sick dogs, coyotes, and foxes (canids all) to be called “Chupacabra” by Anglo reporters. While Craig correctly entitled his blog “Chupacabras,” you can see once again, the media used “Chupacabra.”
But it’s Chupacabras (singular and plural). What wrong with these Texas reporters?
Chupacabras: It’s sort of like Jennifer Lopez, kind of cross-cultural. – Loren Coleman, as quoted by ABC News, 1999.
The ‘Chupacabra’ usage really gets my goat — pun much intended! To say chupacabra is to imply that the entity is ‘the sucker of a single goat.’ Chupacabras is ‘the sucker of goats,’ which was meant by the original nomenclature. Perhaps English speakers feel that a false plural is being formed and they resort to ‘s’ removal. Fortunately the singular/plural issue is resolved–in Spanish–by a ‘definite article’ placed in front of the noun (el, la, los, las, lo):
One single chupacabras: ‘El Chupacabras’
A troupe of the things: ‘Los Chupacabras’
If female: ‘La Chupacabras’
A cluster of females: ‘Las Chupacabras’
So the word ‘Chupacabras’ remains intact — no need to amputate the final ‘s’! – Hispanic cryptozoologist Scott Corrales
Is your skin itching yet?
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.
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