A composite of supposed witness accounts pictures the Chupacabra as about four feet tall, weighing up to about seventy pounds, having gray skin with spikes or perhaps hair running down its spine, short arms with claws, and rear legs like those of a kangaroo.

There is another aspect of the Chupacabra mystery that links it with Bigfoot and black panthers in Texas. The following is a statement from Nick Redfern, a Dallas resident who is the author of Three Men Seeking Monsters, published by Paraview-Pocket in 2004, and numerous other paranormal investigative books.

“In the summer of 2004, myself and Jonathan Downes from the British Center for Fortean Zoology traveled to Puerto Rico in search of the Chupacabras. We spent a week traveling around the El Yunque rainforest, the lowlands and the farms interviewing a whole range of people.These included ranchers, policemen, government employees, members of the public and veterinarians.

“We were particularly impressed by the witnesses and their consistent accounts of finding their animals - usually chickens and goats––drained of blood via two small puncture marks, usually on the neck. Several of the people we spoke with had seen the Chupacabras up close and described it as having a body somewhat like a monkey but with large, leathery bat-like wings and self-illuminating, glowing red eyes. What particularly interested us was the fact that many people who had seen the Chupacabras had also seen strange balls of glowing light in the exact same vicinity where the attacks had occurred.

“They described these lights as being from tennis ball size to basket ball size and they were seen moving through the rain-forests and across their property. Several of the witnesses also told us that the lights seemed to demonstrate evidence of intelligence; at least in terms of how they moved to avoid trees and to follow pathways. Most of the people we spoke with were unacquainted with each other, so this made it even more interesting that their testimonies should match. And it suggests some sort of unique connection between the sightings of the Chupacabras and the strange lights.”

If there are Chupacabras in Texas, judging from Nick’s statement, they would probably fit right in with Bigfoot and black panthers in the menagerie of bizarre beasts that prowl the woods and remote areas of the Lone Star State.

Chupacabra Shot Dead

July and October of 2004 showed a rash of Chupacabra sightings in Texas. An Elmendorf rancher reported shooting one of the creatures and notified authorities of the possibly diseased animal that was killing his livestock. Pictures were taken of the creature but the rancher buried the remains before further investigation of the dead creature could be performed. On a television newscast, the rancher found and interred the buried remains. Samples of tissue and blood were taking for analysis.

A Lufkin resident shot and killed a very similar creature in October. The resident was alerted to trouble by the family dogs barking and whining in the yard. The dogs indicated that the creature was under the house. After being shot, it was dragged out using a rope. A local veterinarian could not identify what type of animal it was. Oddly enough, while driving out to the home, one of these creatures darted out in front of the veterinarian’s vehicle. Some have speculated that it was the mate to the killed animal.

Pictures of the dead critter show an emaciated animal with bluish grey skin. It looked similar to a starving greyhound with a serious case of mange. Its mouth had long upper and lower canine teeth and a rat-like tail that curled behind its hind legs. You would say that it’s a dog, but it did not have the angular skull like one. The back legs were longer than the front, like a kangaroo’s. It had a sloping forehead not unlike a deer’s. When they picked up the head by the ear to photograph it better, the ear crumbled in their hands. The body looked like it had been dead for over a month but it had only been a matter of hours. Its weight was 15 to 20 lbs. Some say it may be a cross between a coyote or wolf and a dog but, but this is not likely.

Whatever this creature was, it had never been seen before. It has totally baffled many trained animal experts. Now that they have fresher tissue and blood samples at the Texas Animal Health Commission, maybe a clearer picture of what this freak of nature that has been roaming the Texas ranches and farmlands really is.

We’ll just have to wait and see. –Tim Stevens

Campout with the El Chupacabra

Dear Weird TX;
I have never been a superstitious person. In fact, when people tell me their stories of the supernatural, or when I watch Unsolved Mysteries, I usually respond by figuring out a logical reason for whatever happened. I just never bought into all the sort of stuff you guys write about––until, that is, I saw something with my own two eyes that I will never forget––the legendary Chupacabra.

Growing up in Texas, and having many Mexican friends, I had heard a lot throughout my life about the Chupacabra, also known as the “goat sucker.” It was supposed to be a demon-like beast that resembled both a lizard and a monkey that had sharp claws. It would feast on goat’s blood, sucking them completely dry. It was supposedly a vicious killer, and would not hesitate to kill men. The story of the Chupacabra is particularly well known in many Spanish speaking countries. For my whole life, I dismissed it as a good story, but nothing else

In the summer of 1999, I was camping on my friend’s property outside of Amarillo, Texas. There were three of us out there that night. We had just graduated high school, were all going off to college in the fall, and spent as much time as we could hanging out, goofing off, and doing the sort of dumb things kids that age do. We often camped on Ray’s property. We’d make a fire, drink some beers, smoke cigars, that sort of thing.

That particular night, Ray seemed out of sorts. He wouldn’t tell us what his problem was for the longest time, but after a couple of brews he loosened up and started talking.

He was shaken, he had said, due to a strange discovery he had made on a road a few miles away from his property a few nights before. He was driving home and had to pee bad enough that he couldn’t make it back to his house. He was pissing when he noticed a dead deer laying in the brush about 10 yards to his right. When he finished his business, he walked over to it, like he was drawn to it. He was thoroughly creeped out to see that the deer was not roadkill, as he presumed. Instead, it had three puncture marks around its head and neck. There was no blood around or any sign that the thing had struggled with a predator. It looked like something pounced on it and killed it effortlessly, with no struggle. Ray knew this area like the back of his hand, and had never seen anything like it. He couldn’t help but think of the story of the Chupacabra when he saw it. It really messed his head up. He told us how he couldn’t rush fast enough to get away from the scene and back to his pick-up.

Now, Phil and I responded to this heartfelt confession just like a couple of high school kids would––we laughed our asses off and mocked Ray as mercilessly as we could for the next few hours before going to bed.

I awoke a few hours later to Phil shaking me. Ray was already sitting up.

“I heard something,” Phil said in a panic. I laughed again. The story had gotten to him.

“Shut up and let me sleep,” I told him. He swore that he had heard something. After a couple minutes we all calmed down and laid back down in our sleeping bags. That’s when I noticed something really foul––literally.

“Do you smell that?” I asked. Both guys told me that they did. There was an intense, bad odor infecting the tent, and it was getting worse and worse. It smelled like rotting flesh. We all were on the verge of vomiting. It was decided among us that we needed to get out of the tent and clear out whatever the hell was making that stink.

Standing outside, we saw nothing that could have possibly been producing the rancid odor. What we could perceive was that there was something severely off about the area. There wasn’t a single sound. No rustling of animals, no birds… just silence. That is until we heard a screech come from the darkness.

Ray shined his flashlight in the direction of the sound just in time for us to see a small creature that looked kind of like a really muscular light green monkey with no tail rise up from behind a rock. The thing had bristly hair and big bug eyes. It very clearly had sharp teeth, as it was baring them at us, and claws. It took off out of the light. Ray tried to follow it but couldn’t find it. We were all freaking out. We took off sprinting the considerable distance back to Ray’s house, leaving the tent and all our stuff behind.

The next morning we made our way back to the campsite only to find that the tent had holes torn into it and our belongings were scattered about. We stopped camping out. I still see those guys whenever I visit my parents’ house, and we still talk about our run-in with the infamous Chupacabra. That night made a believer out of me. –Chris Pico

Weird Texas