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El Chupa Cabra

El Chupacabra

Legends of bloodsucking creatures are present all over the world and throughout history. Seven years ago, I read in La Prensa that a young man was lost on Vulcan Concepcion. He had attempted to climb the volcano without a guide and was ill-prepared for the dangerous trek. Those foolish enough to scale the 1610 meter slopes without assistance are usually seriously wounded, lost, or as in the case of the 24-year-old Salvadoran, eaten by El Cupacabra.

My English students told me that the guides found his body a week later.  His head was wedged between two rocks, his leg was broken, and an arm was missing.  Luvis pounded her fist on my plastic table when she heard the news and emphatically stated, “It was the Chupacabra.”  “What in the world is a Chupacabra?”  I asked curiously.  They all looked at me astounded because I had never heard of the creature.

“The Chupa Cabra is all over the world,” Francisco informed me. They began arguing when I asked for a description of the monster.  One of my students said he was half goat, half man.  The other said he could fly and was probably an alien.  Luvis described him with fierce, pointy teeth and an amazing ability to jump from volcano to volcano.  Francisco said he only sucked the blood from goats.  Luvis said, “No, he eats many people on the volcano because that’s where he lives.”  They all agreed that the monster was dangerous and called him “The goat sucker.”

What I did learn to be fact throughout this strange conversation is that the islanders are very superstitious people.  They attribute any unexplained death or illness to creatures such as duendes, women that turn into monkeys, monsters that leave the dark lake bed at night in search of blood, and the famous Chupacabra.

Wanted: El Chupacabra

Name:         El Chupacabra
Nickname:  The goat sucker
Height:        4.5 to 5.5 feet
Weight:       Unknown
Eyes:          Very large, very red
Build:          half goat-half man, very agile, can hop from one volcano to  another, fierce pointy teeth
Likes:         goats, blood, people, chickens, pigs, dogs, cats, travel
Favorite hangouts:  The volcanoes on Ometepe Island

From Deborah Goehring       Blog  –  http://retirenicaragua.wordpress.com/

 

Another Version

A mythical creature born of Hispanic lore, the mysterious chupacabra inspires fear and awein children and scientists alike.

Translated from Spanish, chupacabra means “goat sucker,” in reference to its apparent appetite for the blood of livestock. Artistic renderings often depict it as having blue-hued skin, a forked tongue, claws, red eyes, protruding fangs and a spiky patch of hair running down its back.

Reports of chupacabra sightings surfaced about a decade ago in the Puerto Rican town of Canóvanas, according to news reports. Chupacabras have also allegedly been spotted in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Chile, New Orleans, Florida and Texas.

Tales of the vampiric monster continue to become more widespread, even though scientists have labeled the chupacabra as nothing more than a contemporary legend used as a scapegoat by farmers to explain missing livestock and by parents to scare small children into coming home before sundown.

The few people who claim to have seen the creature describe the chupacabra as a cross between a greyhound dog, a large Chihuahua and a mangy coyote. In fact, many supposed chupacabras turn out to be wild dogs, foxes or coyotes.

Latest Newspaper Report from 2000

LEON- The animal’s skeleton that sucked the blood of the sheep at the farm “San Lorenzo”, property of Jorge Luis Talavera, 154 kilometers of Malpasillo, was found in the early Monday morning hours 80 meters from the victim’s corral.

“It could be a hybrid animal made up of several species, created in a laboratory by genetic engineering”, said Gioconda Chévez, veterinarian of Malpaisillo.

The Specialist described the animal like a very uncommon specie, after observing the skeleton with yellow hair on its short tail, having great eye cavities, smooth bat skin like, big claws, jaw shows big teeth and a outstanding crest sticking out from the main vertebra.

Jorge Talavera explained that three days ago, He shot with his rifle a supposed “chupacabras” Killing it, but the ” zopilotes” (vultures) had eaten the animal flesh and it was in a state of decomposition. In 15 days sucked the blood of 25 sheep and his neighbor lost 35 others. An average of 5 sheep per night.”