Is THIS the mythical chupacabra? Texas family finds mysterious hairless creature prowling through their yard

A man in Ratcliffe, Texas has caught a smallish, black critter that he believes is the legendary beast

The story of El Chupacabra began in Puerto Rico when farmers found their goats dead and drained of all their blood

While Jackie Stock and her husband Bubba think they've bagged the mythical animal, some believe they have a raccoon with mange

A Texas couple believe they've captured the legendary 'goat sucker' beast el chupacabra.

Jackie Stock and her husband Bubba discovered the hairless, growling creature eating corn outside their Ratcliffe home on Sunday and decided it could be but one thing.

'He called me to come and look, and I said "Bubba that looks like a baby chupacabra,”' Stock said.

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Is this El Chupacabra? A Texas couple found this mysterious creature in their yard on Sunday and believe it is a legendary chupacabra

'He called me to come and look, and I said "Bubba that looks like a baby chupacabra,¿' said Jackie Stock after her husband first happened on the creature

Indeed, the animal is not very large--perhaps the size of a house cat.

But its wrinkly black skin and bulbous eyes still lend it a look of menace.



The couple have kept the thing in a cage and have been feeding it and making sure it has water to drink.

They've also given friends and neighbors the opportunity to come take a peek.



Neighbor Arlen Parma spoke from experience when he concluded it's likely the blood sucking chupacabra.

'I hunted coons for 20 years with dogs and I ain’t ever seen anything that looks like that right there,' Parma told KAVU.

'We've never seen anything like it before': The couple has kept the animal around in order to show it around in hopes someone can ID it

Jackie Stock shows where she first happened on the animal she thinks is a chupacabra

'I hunted coons for 20 years with dogs and I ain’t ever seen anything that looks like that right there,' said the Stocks' neighbor Arlen Parma





And his identification wasn't just based on looks:

'A coon doesn’t make that noise, or a possum. What makes that noise? I guess a chupacabra does,' Parma said.

Stock and her husband say they have kept the animal in a cage, not to harm it, but out of curiosity.

'We were just trying to figure out what it is because we've never seen anything like it before,' Stock said.

No chupacabra has ever been positively identified, of course, and if the Stock's find is ever ID'd, it will likely be as a mammal, possibly with a parasitic infestation that has caused its hair to fall out.

The Stocks are feeding the animal and making sure it has plenty of water

Mangy? Many believe chupacabra sightings are nothing more than mammals like foxes or raccoons with hair loss caused by mange

EL CHUPACABRA: ELUSIVE BEAST OF LEGEND OR MANGY RACCOON?

LEGEND OF EL CHUPACABRA

The word comes from two Spanish words - 'chupar', to suck, and 'cabra', goat.

The first reported sighting was In 1995, when eight sheep were found dead in Puerto Rico with identical puncture wounds to the chest and completely drained of blood.

Thus, the legend of the livestock killing, vampire-like chupacabra was born.

Since then, the legendary beast has been spotted across the Americas and even the world.

A Mexican incident where 35 sheep were found mysteriously dead was blamed on El Chupacabra in 2012.

Earlier this year, yet another Mississippi sighting came when a Leake County man actually shot and killed what he claimed was El Chupacabra.

Even a Belarusian town had a Chupacabra sighting this past July

SCIENCE ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN

Scientists often speculate that hairless creatures believed to be El Chupacabra are actually wildlife like coyotes, foxes, and stray dogs infested with parasites.

Most commonly pointed to is the parasite Sarcoptes scabiei, which causes mange.

Mange is a painful, potentially life threatening condition which can cause complete hair loss in mammals and can also cause their skin to shrivel, making for an even more ghoulish looking beast.

In humans, Sarcoptes scabiei causes scabies and a consequent itchy, painful rash as the parasites burrow around, leaving their feces under the skin. 'Goat sucker': The legend of El Chupacabra likely originates from a 1995 case in Puerto Rico where 8 sheep were found dead with puncture wounds. It has been described as hairless, or as having spines along its back, and as having blue or red eyes















