Ok, who's running around shaving raccoons?

[Archae]

And calling them "Chupacabras?" :D

news stories



New! Hairless raccoon causes stir in Claremore "I have a lot of people calling me, arguing that it’s a chupacabra,” Annette King Tucker, president at the Wild Heart Ranch in Claremore, said. "We’ve been doing this for 14 years and have 15,000 wild animals here, and I’ve never had anything that’s been considered a mythical animal.” "If somebody were to come in here, a biologist with good credentials, and tell me that I was the only one to have a captive mythical creature in their care, I’m all about that. Because ... I need all the help I can get,” Tucker joked. "If anybody wants to view our chupacabra, we charge $100 for a private tour.”

***

Tony Potter, a golf course maintenance man found a dead animal on the 14th hole of the Runaway Bay Golf Course, 85 miles north of Dallas. Using his intuition, Tony determined: "This is not a coyote. This is not a dog." He thinks it's a chupacabra.*

A state biologist who examined it Tuesday said that the animal was a male raccoon, probably no more than a few months old.

How he lost his hair, however, is still a mystery.

"It was a raccoon, no doubt about it," said Jennifer Barrow, the biologist. "It’s feet were a real giveaway. It had long toes, narrow feet . . . everything right for a raccoon."

But Barrow, who works for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, didn’t stop there.

She compared the shape of the animal’s head to that of a bleached raccoon skull, and they matched. The animal’s "dental formula" was also similar to that of a raccoon, she said.



http://www.skepdic.com/chupa.html#news