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When it first uncurled its ugly snout, the "Chupacabra" was considered by cryptozoologists (the experts who investigate unknown and littleknown species) to be the Bigfoot of the Caribbean. Then the loathsome nightmare -- whose name in English translates as "goat sucker" -- branched out, moving into Mexico, Central America, Texas and the Southwest, and South Florida, to drain the blood of farm animals and terrorize local residents. According to reports of people who have glimpsed the vampire-like monster, it isn't the type of creature anyone would wish to run into at night. Or in the middle of the day, for that matter. It is most often described as between three and four feet tall, with a thick upper body, leathery wings extending from the elbows to the lower rib cage, goat-like legs that end in a pair of split hoofs, and a long, scaly tail that resembles that of a giant possum -- or traditional descriptions of the Devil's appendage. The vampiric horror has a head shaped like a human skull, with huge red eyes. Some accounts indicate it has two large nostrils at the end of a long leech-like nose, apparently used to suck up blood. Most descriptions however, indicate that the Chupacabra has hardly any nose at all, and that a pair of long, razor-sharp fangs that extend from the lower jaw are used to pierce the flesh of victims to release the flow of blood so it can be lapped up. Almost all accounts describe a fringe of spike-like hair or scales that extends from the crown of the goat sucker's head, along the spine to the buttocks. From all accounts, the Chupacabra is a horror. The creature carries the stink of the grave and the sulfuric stench of hell everywhere it goes. And it goes most often to the pens of goats, sheep, rabbits, chickens, and occasionally horses or cattle, to slaughter the barnyard animals in welters of blood. When the Chupacabra is on the prowl, no domestic animal is saf. Even dogs and cats are believed to have been among its victims. DISAPPEARS FOR YEARS Curiously, the beast comes and goes, sometimes vanishing for years before suddenly reappearing in remote areas to slake its terrible bloodlust in an orgy of killing. The year 1995 was a particularly bad time for Chupacabra attacks. Posters featuring drawings of the mystery vampire killer and warning residents to beware were even circulated throughout Puerto Rico. Nervous residents were also cautioned not to attempt to hunt down the creature on their own. In Canovanas, a Puerto Rican mountain town of about 40,000 people, the voracious red-eyed monster almost wiped out all the local livestock within the span of a few weeks. Before the slaughter mysteriously stopped, more than 100 animals were killed and sucked dry of blood. Madelyne Tolentino, who reported sighting the monster, said it jumped like a kangaroo. Another witness, 29-year-old Luis Guadalupe, said he and his brother-in-law fled from the dreadful creature as it flew through the air after them. "A pointy, long tongue came in and out of his mouth. It was gray, but his back changed colors. It was a monster," the construction worker told the New York Times. HUNTING PARTIES ORGANIZED Jose Soto, a former police detective and the mayor of Canovanas, organized a band of armed townsmen to hunt down the goat sucker through the thick jungle foliage of the surrounding mountains. Soldiers joined in the search and helped deploy sturdy iron traps. "Whatever it is, it's higjly intelligent," said Soto. "Today it is attcking animals. But tomorrow, it may attack people." Despite the best efforts of Soto, his volunteers, and soldiers, the monster hnt was all in vain. Every morning when the cocks crowed -- those that were still alive -- nervous villagers ventured to their animal pens and found that more goats, chickens and other livestock had been killed overnight and drained of blood. Deep bite marks were on the necks of larger animals, and the necks of chickens and other fowl were ripped totally off, or otherwise shredded into a gory mess of feathers, bone and coagulated blood. A woman in the large southern city of ponce reported that she awakened one morning and found the family dog and cats totally drained of blood. The sinister nocturnal assassin had also eviscerated the animals and devoured the intestines on the spot. A top island veterinarian who studied some of the animals slaughtered in the ghastly attachs confirmed that the bites were not inflicted by a primate. But he was unable to suggest exactly what kind of beast was responsible. By the spring of 1996, the Chupacabre -- or a close relative -- had expanded its hunting ground to the north Mexico state of Sinaloa. So many goats were killed and sucked dry of blood that poor farmers in the village of Calderon formed posses of vigilantes to patrol the dusty streets and silent pastures at night, seeking the strange beast that was slaughtering their animals. LAST-DITCH EFFORTS Some Sinaloan farmers took more drastic measures, seeking out isolated caves and firing the interiors in desperate efforts to roast alive any goat suckers that might be lurking inside. The cave attacks brought stern warnings from environmentalists and government officials to the panicky farmers that they were destroying important ecosystems. The Chupacabra of Sinaloa differs slightly in appearance from its Puerto Rican cousin, according to verbal descriptions and drawings on "Wanted" posters distributed throughout the state. Some say the Mexican goat sucker is smaller, slighly more than one foot long, and it has wings that are easily visible. Others describe it as looking like a three-foot-long rat with huge fangs. Whatever the Mexican goat sucker is or whatever it looks like, most agree that it hunts by gliding silently through the night air until it smells or detects an animal with one of its other senses. Then it moves in for the attack. HUMANS ATTACKED Like its Puerto Rico counterpart, the goat sucker of Sinaloa feasts primarily on livestock, pets and wild animals, although some humans have been attacked. In fact, the initial Chupacabra scare in Mexico was set off when a 21-year-old woman reported being mauled. The tearful young woman from the corn farminf village of Alfonso Calderon in northern Sinaloa backed up her story during an appearance on Televisa, Mexico's major television network, by showing the toothmarks on her neck. In the wake of the woman's terrifying disclosure on nationwide television, reports of goat sucker attacks flashed throughout Mexico. In the western state of Jalisco, peasant walked into a village clinic seeking treatment for bite wounds on his neck. He explained that he had been attacked by a strange, ravenous beast about three feet tall. He claimed it had a massive snout and dark, velvety skin. Other Chupacabra attacks on animals were reported during the same period of time in Costa Rica and El Salvador. Chupacabra forays spread to southern Texas, and also to South Florida, which was especially hard-hit. Olympia Govea woke up one morning at her Sweetwater home to discover the dead carcasses of her two goats and 27 chickens littering the yard between the coops and banana trees. Nearby, the deadly fanged devil had swept through the yard of Barbara Martinez and left 42 of her chickens dead. NO SIMPLE EXPLANATION What exactly is the Chupacabra? No one really knows. Wildlife biologists and various skeptics talk knowingly about mass hysteria, packs of feral dogs, vampire bats or some predatory wild animal, such as like a puma, jaguar, or bear. Even rabid foxes and coyotes have been included in the imaginative speculation. But witnesses who have had personal encounters with the winged horror are convinced that it is something else. To them -- although it is of unknown origin -- the goat sucker is as real as the dead farm animals in their pastures and the silent corpses of beloved pets in their yards. Theories ranging from that they might be extraterrestrials, interdimensional invaders, or even demons from hell are pretty common, as is the hypothesis that we are dealing with some rare, reclusive primal beast hidden from science since the beginning of time. Whatever the goat sucker may be, it is not a creature that is known to modern science or to zoologists. And it is obviously not a creature to be descounted or trifled with. - the end - |