Monday, November 5, 2007

A Texas Chupacabras? Nope...

The recent furore and fuss that surrounded the discovery of a weird-looking creature in Texas has been laid to rest. A Chupacabras? Nope: a coyote with an unfortunate skin condition.

2 comments:

devildog said...

Glad that this has been resolved, although it's somewhat unfortunate that this dead critter had been referred to as possible 'chupacabras' in the first place. After all, 'real' chupacabras are never found, only the carnage they leave behind. To those familiar enough with the details of the the chupacabras mystery, this thing couldn't -- by definition -- be one. In the impressionable public mind, the mystery has been solved, so we can all turn our attention elsewhere. Brings to mind how 'crop circles' were debunked when the media reported that two hoaxers came forward, way back in the '90s. Despite being logistically impossible that the practically geriatric duo could have produced the stunning array of crop circle designs, that's what stuck in the mind of the public. The public doesn't like mysteries, so much so in fact that even the rediculous answers are still preferable to those presented by an unknown agency.

Nick Redfern said...

Devil Dog:

Good point. There is always that tendency for people to dismiss a mystery when someone provides an answer to it.

In this case, however, all that's happened is that it's been proven that the Texas "Chupacabras" is just a Coyote.

But you are absolutely correct: by definition, the TX coyote is not the same thing that has been killing animals under weird circumstances, so the puzzle remains.