UPDATE: The creature shot and killed in Medina County last week has been positively identified by a veterinarian as a coyote with a severe case of mange.
This is not the first time a mangy coyote was misidentified as a chupacabras. Remember the Cuero Chupacabras of 2007? It was identified through DNA testing to be a virtually identical match to a coyote.
Then there was the “Elmendorf Beast” of 2004, and last year’s chupacabras caught on a Texas patrolman’s dashboard camera, both bearing a striking resemblance to mangy coyotes.
So the real mystery may not be so much what the identity of these so-called “chupacabras” are, but rather why are so many Texas coyotes coming down such severe cases of mange?
