Is Bizarre Creature Caught on Video a Chupacabra?

This week's Animal Oddity falls smack into the realm of cryptozoology. In addition to Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and Mothman, probably the next most famous creature-that-might-exist is the Chupacabra.

The legend of the Chupacabra began in Chile and Puerto Rico back in the 1990s with tales of a winged, lizard-like humanoid creature that killed goats and other livestock and drained them of blood.

More recently, however, the term has been used to describe a horrifically ugly four-legged, gray-skinned animal that has been sighted across the mainland United States, from Texas to Arkansas to Kentucky -- and now most recently in Maryland.

Here's a news report of a bizarre-looking animal that was recently trapped and released this week in that Mid-Atlantic state. What do you think it is?

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Comments

[bluto392]

02:31 PM on 09/12/2011

i think the fact that they didn't keep it or take a dna sample says all we need to know about this incident.

[clamontjames]

02:22 PM on 09/04/2011

in chicago we call em HOBJACKALS

[Bellla]

11:03 AM on 08/28/2011

Why did they let it go? It wasn't what they wanted?

[sixyfivepercentwater]

04:21 PM on 08/26/2011

This one doesn't look like other chupacabra. This one looks like a hairless fox.

[Marie Ledger]

09:46 AM on 08/24/2011

fox with mange is my guess.

[Matt Jacobs]

08:47 PM on 08/18/2011

Probably a fox with mange, based on the size and long tail. Still, do a Google image search for "coyote mange", and you get pictures of some very similar creatures as well (warning: some of the pictures are of dead animals).

[Linda Vernon]

03:32 PM on 08/17/2011

No, that poor creature isn't a chupacabra, but a fox with a very bad case of mange. We have one that visits our place from time to time.

[Voivode Vlad]

02:30 PM on 08/17/2011

That looks like a fox denuded by mange.

[Heaven67]

12:40 PM on 08/17/2011

It's probably a Xoloitzcuintle, or a Mexican Hairless Dog. Everybody gets this 'chupacabra' issue wrong... the are most probably Xolo dogs, which come in 3 sizes like poodles, schnauzers, etc. Toy, Mini and Standard. These dogs always win the 'Ugliest Dog' contests, most people confuse them for Chinese Crested, but they are an ancient breed that was once prized by Aztecs, then became a common food staple - they almost ate them into extinction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Hairless_Dog

[abandofoutsiders]

03:48 PM on 08/19/2011

I can't tell the difference between a Xolo and a Peruvian Hairless dog. Do you know if they share the same origins? Just wondering.

[barbara0309]

11:31 AM on 08/17/2011

A "beast"?

That's just a lot dramatic.

It looks harmless.

[gregkingms]

11:19 AM on 08/17/2011

this is deffinately a fox with the mange, they should not have released him they should have killed this desiesed animal.

[Jim Milks]

09:47 AM on 08/17/2011

A red fox (Vulpes vulpes) with sarcoptic mange. Definitely not a mythical creature.

[minerva117]

09:45 AM on 08/17/2011

Strange looking little mutt......it seemed docile, tho.....as if it's accustomed to being around people......hmmmmmmmm.......

[lorijo1958]

08:46 AM on 08/17/2011

I think it's a pet wallaroo or wallaby.

[Sharon Kamp]

06:38 AM on 08/17/2011

looks like a cross between dogs one of them being a hairless one!!