Cougar or Chupacabra?

Lately, there have been rumors of a cougar being sighted in this part of Iowa, and in particular, just within a mile of where I pasture the horses. A couple of fellows say some of their hunting dogs went missing and were found hanging in the fork of a tree and not in a condition to follow them home. So far though, no tracks and no actual verification. We have been keeping a careful eye out for any signs.

We did find an unfortunate victim while doing chores the other night…

It was difficult to tell just what had caused this unusual mutilation.

Then.

We saw it.

Not a cougar.

No!

But a dreaded CHUPACABRA!!!!

for anyone not up to speed on cryptozoology, here you go:

Chupacabra (also Chupacabras /tʃupa’kabɾas/, from Spanish chupar: to suck, cabra: goat; goat sucker) is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. It is associated more recently with sightings of an allegedly unknown animal in Puerto Rico (where these sightings were first reported), Mexico, and the United States, especially in the latter’s Latin American communities.^[1] The name comes from the animal’s reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats. Physical descriptions of the creature vary. Eyewitness sightings have been claimed as early as 1990 in Puerto Rico, and have since been reported as far north as Maine, and as far south as Chile. It is supposedly a heavy creature, the size of a small bear, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail. Most biologists and wildlife management officials view the chupacabra as an urban legend.^{[2] From Wikipedia.org}

Legend no more! Run, Radar, RUN!