July 17, 3:17 PM
Longmont Zombie Examiner
Larry Berreth
Is the summer heat bringing out more than just mosquitoes?
Following recent road encounters with the living dead, a new type of supernatural predator seems to be on the rise--the chupacabras.
In the last two weeks authorities in Hood County, Texas have confirmed two different killings of the dreaded vampiric canine.
The first was shot to death after leaping to attack a Cresson city code enforcement officer in a barn.
Johnny Collins, the code officer and a member of the Texas State Guard, attended a drill a few days later and showed pictures of the animal to fellow troops from South Texas.
“They'd take one look and say, ‘Yep, you got a chupacabras there,’” Collins said.
Authorities are not willing to confirm the chupacabras’ existence and transgressions into North Texas, as Sgt. Rosemary Moninger of Hood County animal control, claims the animal was merely a “coyote-canine hybrid”, at least according to official tests conducted at Texas A&M University.
A similar animal was killed two days later on a ranch near Acton, about eight miles southwest of Cresson.
Joyce Hewitt, whose son shot the creature said it “had really sturdy paws and substantial claws."
Official tests were not conducted on the second animal, due to its reported removal and scavengering “by vultures”.
Mrs. Hewitt did state that “David e-mailed a photo of it to a friend who hunts. He told David that's what it was--a chupacabras.”
The chupacabras is the legendary “goat-sucker”, a vampiric, almost werewolf-like creature which prowls the night. The name comes from the animal's reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats. Physical descriptions of the creature vary.
Eyewitness sightings date back as early as 1990 in Puerto Rico, but other animal deaths attributed to this Latin American killer have been reported in other Central and Southern American countries, Mexico, along the southern U.S. border, and even as far away as Russia.
The recent Texas sightings seem to match the description of a chupacabra as a form of mostly hairless, wild reptilian dog with a raised spinal ridge, unusually pronounced eye sockets, fangs, and claws. The chupacabra characteristically kills by draining all of an animal's blood, usually through three puncture holes in the shape of an upside-down triangle. It may also take most or all of its victim’s internal organs.
There are no known actual sightings of a Chupacabras in Colorado. However, if you do think you see one, do not engage it directly. Contact your local police department, or Longmont Animal Control at 303-651-8500.
