El Chupacabra(s) is a beast whose alleged existence has plagued farmers and the collective Latin consciousness for some time. The first reports of the Chupacabra date back to the 1995 (though some reports say El Chupacabra first popped up in the 1960s) in Puerto Rico. In March 1995, the creature was supposedly responsible for the deaths of eight sheep completely drained of blood, with three puncture wound in each of their chests.
Authorities attributed the killings to more conventional predators, but many locals suspected a Satanic cult. By August, 150 similar livestock killings had taken place, and by the end of the year, the mysterious beast had reportedly killed more than 1,000 animals. Descriptions of the creature varied wildly; in the town of Canóvanas, people described the creature as winged, swooping down on its prey. In Caguas, it was said to have hairy arms and red eyes. By the end of 1995, the most prevalent description was gray, alien-like creature about 3- to 4-feet tall that walks upright on its muscular hind legs.
By 1996, reports of Chupacabra attacks were widespread. They began in Miami and later in the Southwest and Mexico. Either the creature had migrated, or the stories had become so popular that reports of sightings and copycat attacks were being carried out here, too. This time, the creature looked doglike but reptilian. Whether Chupacabra exists or not, reports of bloodless murdered livestock persist. And to date, no satisfactory predator has ever been caught.
Though El Chupacabra mythology has made its way to Sakura Quest – a Japanese anime – it has not reached the same level of notoriety as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. Regardless, the legend of El Chupacabra has remained and it’s not rare to see an article about a new spotting. Here, we compiled a running log of sightings this year.
February 2017 ~ Victoria, Texas
On Highway 185 and Guadalupe Road in Victoria, Texas, a resident reportedly spotted a chupacabra. Following the tip of a Crossroads Today viewer, the news station went to the location and found an animal lying on the side of the road. It had “the paws of a dog, but the body of a hyena.”
March 2017 ~ Olancho, Honduras
Residents of Las Agujas in Olancho, Honduras worried after finding a dead bull without eyes or a tongue. According to La Tribuna, residents saw an ugly white animal prowling the pastures believed to be El Chupacabra.
May 2017 ~ Choloma, Honduras
By May 6, 2017, a creature had killed 35 animals in the Monterrey de Choloma, a municipality in Cortés, Honduras. Residents feared that the animal – which disappeared as if by magic – would eventually hurt humans, especially children. Nely David Martínez saw it one day at 12:45 a.m. after hearing a noise. Struck by fear, he was unable to move and couldn’t get a good glimpse at the figure, but all the animals began to drop to the floor, according to La Tribuna.
May 2017 ~ Córdoba, Argentina
For months, people living in Charbonier in Córdoba saw animals attacked. In May, a man took a photo of an animal that he described as a “big bat, like the size of an eagle [that can] attack horses and cows,” according to TKM. Specialists of the Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria (Senasa) dismissed Chupacabra claims and instead said it was bats that were transmitting rabies to other animals.
June 2017 ~ Nanegalito, Ecuador
59-year-old Casimiro Flores believes the creature he fought off was the Chupacabra. One day he heard a loud noise that sent chills up his spine. When he turned around, the about 5’7″ man saw a creature – which looked like a brown dog with pointed ears – that reached his waist. Trapped by the animal, which dragged him around, Casimiro grabbed a stone and threw it at the creature’s forehead. After letting out a cry, it ran away, according to Extra.
July 2017 ~ Riverside, California
In mid-July when Cary Shuker’s cat raced inside their home, he looked outside and saw the “ugliest looking thing” staring at him about 80 feet away. With teeth jutting out in every direction, rippled skin, and a tail like a rat or possum, Shuker said it looked nothing like a coyote. It was also “at least two feet or more longer than the biggest coyote you’ve ever seen.” Shuker’s not the only one who has spotted the creature. in the Box Springs Mountain territory.
M.J. Bunt, an early childhood educator, also saw the chupacabra this year. “I thought, ‘That is the strangest looking animal I’ve ever seen,” she told The Press-Enterprise about spotting it near her home. “[It had] the ears of a deer, long snout, no hair, tail like a rat, long hindquarters. I thought it might be a sick coyote, a sick wolf. But it had too many different characteristics from any of them.”
August 2017 ~ Santee, South Carolina
While golfing one day at the Santee Cooper Country Club, Doug Stewart took a photo of an animal that some believed to be a chupacabra. In a Facebook post that went viral, Stewart said the animal was most definitely not a dog. But as commenters weighed in with their different theories, some believed that it was actually a coyote or fox with mange.
