The Chupacabra Caught?

by Mike Krumboltz


It really does exist! Maybe! The famed chupacabra has apparently been found, and it's a Texan.

Or at least it was. The beast is now dead, but news of its capture near Blanco, Texas, inspired Bigfoot-sized searches. Lookups on "chupacabra" surged a whopping 571%, and related queries on "what does chupacabra mean" also roared. (For the record, its rough translation is "goat sucker.") The find also inspired renewed interest in the equally notorious Montauk Monster.

Jerry Ayer, owner of Blanco Taxidermy School, has possession of the mythical beast's body. According to CNN, the animal was discovered by one of Ayer's students. The student had "placed poison...to catch an unidentified animal that had gotten into a family member's barn." Little did the student know the animal in question was (maybe) the chupacabra.

In the video from CNN (which is pretty gross, so beware), Ayer shows off some of the unusual features of the animal, including abnormally long legs and teeth. It looks a bit like the world's ugliest (and meanest) dog.

Of course, this is hardly the first time someone has claimed to have captured the chupacabra. In years past, brave souls have spotted it in places ranging from Russia to Maine to the Philippines. Often the animal is spotted by folks who conveniently forget to snap a photo.

Not so this time. Ayer says he plans to preserve the animal and then donate it to a local museum so it can be enjoyed by others. As the taxidermist puts it, the beast is "a tremendous conversation piece." Sort of like the Mona Lisa or a really stellar collection of garden gnomes.