Anyway . . . people are blaming the many, many goats with slit throats on El Chupacabra because there hasn’t been much blood at the scenes. It’s more likely that it simply absorbed into the dry, hot ground, folks, or maybe was collected for nasty silly “satanic” rituals. But neither of those explanations is as likely to draw media attention as the blaming of the elusive goatsucker.

- Julie

Links:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/paranormal/2010/09/03/el-chupacabra-blamed-for-beheadings-in-mexico-with-photo/
http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/chupacabras-suspected-in-300-goat-beheadings/19616888

Last year’s trip was a bit of a bust but did generate enough unexplained data to make the club think additional investigation is warranted. Well, that and really, how many cryptozoological investigations can a club do in British Columbia? You can only look for Bigfoot so many times before it just gets tedious and people start making jokes about those “Messin’ With Sasquatch” Slim Jim commercials, right? Anyway, last year the BCSCC’s investigation found two large unexplained blips using a fish finder before foul weather took it’s toll on the trip.

They also discovered trough their own research and through eyewitness accounts that the creature, if there is one, tends to shy away from powered boats, so this year they plan to drift on the lake in an attempt to encounter the monster.

In a refreshing dose of healthy skepticism for a group devoted to cryptozoology that suggests there’s a good reason they added the term “scientific” to their name, one of the co-founders of the club, John Kirk, isn’t so sure there is a giant creature in the lake. Kirk thinks the lake is too small to support that kind of creature and that the giant radar blips could be a dumped sturgeon or other large non-native fish.

It will be interesting to see what they find.

- Julie

Sources:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/101029149.html
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/canada/Monster+hunters+continue+search+creature+Vancouver+Island+lake/3437498/story.html
http://www.timescolonist.com/Search+lake+monster+resumes/3435250/story.html

Ms. Pearce said the creature appeared to be trying to catch fish, and that some fish beached themselves as the beast got near (which lends credence to the possibility that these were just some weird waves, which could cause fish to end up on the beach rather than in the water where they belong). Ms. Pearce contacted the Marine Conservation Society to report the sighting, and the MCS hasn’t been able to determine what she saw and has asked beachgoers to keep their cameras at the ready in case it reappears. Maybe one of these days someone will get a clear photo of one of these things. Or maybe the clear photos that have been taken show that the beast in question was actually something already known and totally non-sensational.

Ms. Pearce originally thought the creature was a sea turtle, but then she saw a long neck that ruled that out. Unless it’s a mutant sea turtle. Oh, like that’s any less plausible than there being plesiosaur-like creatures in oceans and lakes that are able to elude all attempts to find them despite their enormous size. I think if you’re willing to believe that various cryptozoological creatures exist, you should also be willing to believe that some of them might just be mutated or otherwise deformed creatures we are all already aware of. Well, those of us not too busy fretting about what’s in People magazine to pay attention in science class, anyway.

Just this week scientists disclosed the  discovery that triceratops is just a juvenile version of a torosaurus. So these two things we thought were independent creatures are one creature at different stages of life. To my relief, they are going to stick with the triceratops name. I don’t know why that matters to me, it just does.

Childhood nomenclature issues aside, this goes to show that we should keep our minds open about what things might be. Sure, they could be undiscovered creatures. We find “new” species in the depths of the oceans and in remote jungles when we find a way to look there, and the world is a big place with plenty of room for creatures to exist without us knowing about it at all. But we also know about evolution and mutation and deformity, so we should think about those factors, too, when we think we have seen a sea monster or bigfoot or chupacabra. Maybe that could help us calm down just enough to take some in-focus pictures.

- Julie

Sources:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3075446/Mystery-sea-monster-seen.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1299666/Triceratops-really-existed.html

Everyone knows chupacabras look like this:

Or something like that. The most important things to note are that it has reptilian features and a bunch of sharp parts of its spine protruding down its back. That would mean that something that looks merely dog-like and scary due to the large fangs does NOT resemble the legendary chupacabra. This poor thing looks like a roughed-up coyote with a fur problem, not something sensible people would call a chupacabra:

Still from the video at the www.woai.com link below

In the typical fashion of people who don’t bother to read an entire word and guess what it is based on the first three letters, completely ignoring the context that suggests the word “continent ” might be more appropriate to a discussion of plate tectonics than the word “container,” several dumbasses in Texas have been shooting at and sometimes killing unfortunate beasties that look a hell of a lot more like a dog or coyote than anything. They weren’t 100% certain exactly what animals these were, and they saw a quick way to get some time on the local news and YouTube, so they shot first and screamed “Lookit! With a camera! I killed me one of them candelabra . . . no . . . chuplatechip . . . no, that ain’t it either . . . chupacabras!”

The executed critters have been shipped off for dna testing. Similar creatures tested in 2007 turned out to be really ugly coyotes. Surprise! Again, people, note the lack of lizardlike qualities or freaky spinal protrusions. Also note how much these things look like freaking coyotes!

Knock it the hell off, people. If you need to kill a scary fierce threatening creature because it is posing a real hazard, fine. Just stop it with the speculating that it just might be a chupacabra. You know it isn’t. If you need to get on tv that badly, do something funny like get hit in the balls by your toddler, or tape you kid after general anesthesia and post it on YouTube. Or run a volunteer event to help clean up the Gulf Coast.

Gotta run, there’s a large squirrel sasquatch in my backyard I want to film in a very shaky manner.

- Julie

Sources:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/weird/Is_This_the_Face_of_a_Goat-Sucker__Dallas-Fort_Worth.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/07/14/2010-07-14_chupacabra_mythical_goat_sucker_beast_surfaces_in_texas_2_caninelike_creatures_f.html
http://www.woai.com/mostpopular/story/Chupacabras-Mysterious-creatures-killed-in-Texas/YMYc1PyfZ0imSLKAP7IX4w.cspx
http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/chupacabra-dna-tester-casts-doubts-on-latest-chupacabra-scare/19554408

Image: Donald Gialanella

Donald Gialanella came across the carcass of an unfortunate beastie while he was on a hike about six miles northeast of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. He’s not saying that it IS a Chupacabra, but he thinks that it certainly could be or is at least some new cryptozoological find.

Gialanella points to the following as evidence that this isn’t just some run-of-the-mill creature:

protruding spine bones (Nope, this couldn’t possibly have been caused by the skin contracting as it dehydrated. Or Photoshop)

the one large canine tooth he claims is 4 to 5 inches long (You know, gums recede in humans after death due to dehydration. This is part of what caused people to start believing in vampires. I guess it would be absurd to think this happens in other dead mammals, wouldn’t it?)

the oddly-shaped feet, which he says look like hooves but also have features of paws (Dude, they are paws. Period. Sad little paws that have contracted due to the decaying process. Has this guy never ever seen photos of dead animals before?)

the large hole in the chest, revealing (dun-DUN!) no internal organs, despite no insect activity that he could see (Oh boy. I don’t suppose, say, that the insects and other scavengers already ate the organs and left because they cleaned the plate. No, that would be really odd for a dead animal to have its body scavenged and then left alone once all the juicy bits were gone.)

Naturally, the guy didn’t take the thing home with him, and when he went back the next day to get it, IT WAS GONE!

As if the “clues” weren’t silly enough. someone on the Unexplained-Mysteries message board also analyzed the photo and thinks it was doctored. Do go check out the original post with this analysis. There is an awesome 30-second video of the carcass, complete with totally cheesy “eerie” music that is supposed to help convince you that this thing is some unknown mysterious creature.

You know, El Chupacabra is my favorite crypto creature, as I have noted before, so it just makes me sad when someone makes such a sorry attempt to prove its existence.
It’s almost as bad as that guy in the Bigfoot suit with the zipper. It’s so much better when someone at least manages to submit a sample for scientific testing, like a museum in Crosbyton, Texas is doing. The Mount Blanco Fossil Museum is willing to display a strange-looking carcass, but they are making sure it’s not some embarrassing extra-mangy coyote. Results are, of course, pending.

Come on, folks, let’s try a little harder next time. Don’t destroy the magic with sensation-seeking half-assedness.

- Julie

Sources:
http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=12510632
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=184687

Scary Question Number 3:

Ghosts and Photography-How do cameras catch ghosts in the picture and how does it work?

How does a camera know when a ghost is around, I take pictures all the time and I never see any white stuff that let;s you know that the white stuff is a ghost, what type of camras cature real ghosts in the picture.

Dang. This person seems to think that a camera can be sentient regarding the presence of ghosts. Somehow I can’t find the “detect ghosts” setting on my Kodak dial. Oh, wait, maybe I need to upgrade to a more advanced camera that captures “real ghosts.” You know, the kind that have been used to definitively prove to all that ghosts really exist. Surely this person isn’t that out of touch with reality. That’s too scary to think about. Maybe this question just came from the future . . .

Scary Question Number 4, Part A:

If a person practices Wicca….does that automatically make them a witch?

Question:
I am new to Wicca and am still learning. When will I actually be considered a witch??

Scary Question Number 4, Part B

Wat does being a witch mean? Am i a witch?

It sounds ridiculous, but i think im a witch. anybody who thinks they can help or guide me, please can i have your email address.

Well, the BEST way to make sure you’re a REAL witch is to pay at least several hundred dollars to someone who is willing to certify you as a witch. Duh.

Scary Question Number 5

Are mythical creatures like bigfoot and the loch ness monster real?
is it true?
is there proof?
thanks

I really hope the people who ask questions like this are under the age of 8 or have just come out of a lifetime of complete seclusion from others. How is it they are capable of finding some sixth-rate question board but are obviously incapable of performing the most basic of searches on the internet? How do they remember to breathe? I hope they don’t drive . . .

- Julie

Sources:

http://www.lettellme.com/arts-humanities/ghosts-and-photography-how-do-cameras-catch-ghosts-in-the-picture-and-how-does-it-work.html
http://wicca.abouttheoccult.com/if-a-person-practices-wicca-does-that-automatically-make-them-a-witch/
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100508020447AALqvwC

In 2009, people in Poland reported dead animals that seemed to have had all of their fluids removed through tiny holes. Apparently, these kinds of killings are happening again.

Some residents of Kornelin have even reported seeing a creature that matches reports of Chupacabra sightings from North America.

This isn’t the first report of Chupacabra sightings in Central or Eastern Europe. In March 2005 there were reports of a blood-sucking beast that killed and drained thirty-two turkeys in one night. The killer later sucked dry thirty sheep, several goats, and thirty small horned cattle. Once again, witness accounts seem to describe a “typical” chupacabra: part reptile, part giant dog, part kangaroo.

Bigfoot gets some different names (Sasquatch, Yeti, Yeren, Yowie, etc.) depending on where the sightings are. I wonder if the Chupacabra will get some new monikers as it makes its way around the globe. I hope not. “Chupacabra” is fun to say. Way more fun than “goatsucker.” Chupacabra sounds like a dance, or maybe something kind of cute and cuddly. Which is all the better to lure people into a false sense of security so it can sneak up and gruesomely murder all their livestock. Well, not as gruesome as what the cattle mutilators do, and I guess easier to clean up, but pretty freaky nonetheless.

- Julie

Sources:

http://hauntjaunts.net/blog/2010/05/19/possible-chupacabra-in-poland/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra
http://english.pravda.ru/science/mysteries/79616-0/

As is usually the case with the big cats of England, the giant kitty made no attempt to harm the girls. Instead, it followed them for a while, then walked away. Regardless, the terrified girls ran home.

Big cats have been sighted in that area before.  In 2007, milkman Robert Brinton saw one in 2007 on Railway Road, firefighter Peter Bishop saw one in nearby Cinderford, and a truck driver saw one on Valley Road.

A black big cat was also seen in Sussex, England on May 9, 2010. A woman walking her dog saw the animal along Sands Lane in Small Dole. The dog was pretty bothered by the cat, but the gigantic feline didn’t seem to be upset at all by the tiny Jack Russell-type pooch.

I suppose if there can be Chupacabra sightings in Russia and Poland, it’s not too odd for there to be panthers or other large actual known types of cats in England.

- Julie

Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279834/Panther-stalked-schoolgirl-Forest-Dean.html
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/827223-panther-stalked-schoolgirl
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7745723/Schoolgirl-stalked-through-forest-by-panther.html
http://sussexbigcats.blogspot.com/2010/05/latest-sighting-in-sussex.html

Local elders say it is what they call “omajinaakoos,” meaning “the ugly one,” and that it has not been seen in about 40 years. They say it could be a bad omen.

The beast, as found, is covered in thick brown fur, with the exception of its face and paws. It has a tail like a rat’s tail.  Some have said the body resembles that of an otter, a badger, or a mink.

There is no carcass to examine, because the nurses left it where they found it after taking pictures of it. Then it disappeared.

The internet is rife with speculation that the animal is either a creature like the “Montauk Monster” or a new kind of chupacabra.

I think it just looks angry. Angry about being dead? Partially bald? Misidentified? Maybe it made a face and it froze that way just like its mother said it would.

- Julie

Sources:

http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/812580–update-the-ugly-one-monster-mystery?bn=1
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1279956/Montauk-Monster-Beast-Ontario.html