Chupacabras

http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-05/delusions.html

In the winter of March 1975, there was a mass delusion in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican farmers claimed that their farm animals were being attacked by chupacabras. Chupacabras got their name from a crepuscular bird that steals goat’s milk. The mysterious creature has also been called a “goatsucker.” Goatsuckers, act just as their name implies. They drain the blood of farm animals and scoop out chunks of their flesh. Their bodies are completely drained of blood when found, which inspired another name for the creature: “The Vampire of Moca.” The victims’ corpses have been examined by professionals and police, but they cannot come to a conclusion about the attacker. “Everything from humans to snakes to vampire bats,” has been blamed. Attacks were identified with high screeches and the sound of flapping wings. And those who have seen it describe it as a “bristly, bulge-eyed rat with the hind legs of a kangaroo, capable of escaping after its crimes in high speed sprints.” This creature has caused many problems and much stress for locals. So stressed in fact, that some people have even had to be hospitalized. I find it interesting that as the stories of the goatsucker spread to Florida and Mexico, so did the sightings, mostly within Hispanic communities. Accounts of the Chupacabra even spread to Arizona. According to the article, “The Hispanic Goatsucker,”