Chupacabras killed in Texas

The legendary goat sucker, or Chupacabra, has been popping up in Texas. A Hood County Texan named Dave Hewitt killed one and said he'd never seen anything like it. He's not the first Texan to have a dead chupacabra on his hands.

ABC news quotes Hewitt, "From a distance, he looked like a hairless chihuahua, only much bigger," Hewitt said. "From all indications, it seemed to be a chupacabra. The claws, toenails, nothing like I've seen on a coyote. Skinny, pointed tail; sure looks like a possum to me," he said. "Never seen any kind of animal that doesn't have hair on it."

In 2007, Texan Philis Canion found one and saved it's head as a trophy. According to LAist, she sold t-shirts that proclaimed, "The Summer of the Chupacabra, Cuero, Texas."

In response to the recent sightings, Chris Zedler of Texoma says the animals are just Xoloitzcuintli or Xolos. It's a standard breed of dog known as the Mexican hairless. Zedler's guess is that someone released them into the wild and they became feral. KTEN says, "Zedler says he shot a dog. "They showed a picture of a dead one and I was like oh my god that's a Mexican Hairless, that's my dog! Zedler says she doesn't pay much attention to the legends, but even if they were true she doesn't understand why anyone would want to kill the creature. "If you saw Bigfoot, would you shoot him. I mean why are you shooting big foot if you actually found one." And, while her dog, Xoxo, may not be any "Bigfoot," Zedler isn't taking any chances. she says she is dressing her dog in clothes so people will know it's a pet."

Go Pets America has facts on Xolos, "The Xoloitzcuintli (pronounced sholo-its-quintli) meaning "dog of the god Xolotl" , the Aztec god of twins, of things which are deformed, and of the Aztec ball-court game. It has also been called the Pelon, or Bald Dog. Breeders usually refer to it simply as the Xolo (pronounced sholo). Its primary function in the ancient times was as a source of food.

Unlike goat suckling Chupacabras, the Xolos are known as good watchdogs that behave well around children and family pets.

A Texan recently killed an animal that he believes is the legendary Chupacabra or Mexican goat sucker. Others say it's a hairless breed of dog named the Xoloitzcuintli called Xolos for short. Some say the Chupacabra is the south American Bigfoot - a hoax for bedtime stories. Is the Chupacabra just a Xolo, or is there still a monster out there?

source: http://www.examiner.com/x-40065-Blogosphere-Buzz-Examiner~y2010m7d14-Chupacabras-killed-in-Texas--photo-gallery