Chupacabra Spotted In Tampa, Florida

We got another Chupacabra spotting, this time in Tampa Bay. Chupacabras (translation "goatsuckers") have been terrorizing the southern U.S. and Caribbean. Chupacabras are fascinating because the descriptions range from canine-like to a total alien that has gigantic fangs.

Daniel Eskridge. Getty Images.

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Some people think Chupacabras were created by the U.S. government to hunt drug smugglers and coyotes trying to cross the southern border or just to scare people trying to get into the U.S.

From Wikipedia:

The chupacabra or chupacabras (Spanish pronunciation: [tʃupaˈkaβɾas], literally 'goat-sucker'; from Spanish: chupar, 'to suck', and cabras, 'goats') is a legendary creature in the folklore of parts of the Americas, with its first purported sightings reported in Puerto Rico in 1995. The name comes from the animal's reported vampirism—the chupacabra is said to attack and drink the blood of livestock, including goats.

Physical descriptions of the creature vary, with some describing it as more dog-like (particularly in Southwestern United States) while most others describe it as reptilian and alien-like (in Puerto Rico and Latin America). Some report it as being a heavy creature the size of a small bear, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail.

Sightings have been reported in Puerto Rico since the 1970s, and this creature has since been reported as far north as Maine, as far south as Chile, and even outside the Americas in countries like Russia and Philippines. All of the reports are anecdotal and have been disregarded as uncorroborated or lacking evidence. Sightings in northern Mexico and the southern United States have been verified as canids afflicted by mange.[1] According to biologists and wildlife management officials, the chupacabra is an urban legend.[2]

Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that most chupacabra sitings are different canines or bears afflicted with mange. 

Mange is not any sort of cryptozoology but rather a mite that affects wild animals.

from Wikipedia: 

Mange /ˈmeɪndʒ/ is a type of skin disease caused by parasitic mites.[1] Because various species of mites also infect plants, birds and reptiles, the term "mange", or colloquially "the mange", suggesting poor condition of the skin and fur due to the infection, is sometimes reserved for pathological mite-infestation of nonhuman mammals. Thus, mange includes mite-associated skin disease in domestic mammals (cats and dogs), in livestock (such as sheep scab), and in wild mammals (for example, foxes, coyotes, cougars,[citation needed] and bears).[2] Since mites belong to the arachnid subclass Acari (also called Acarina), another term for mite infestation is acariasis.

Parasitic mites that cause mange in mammals embed themselves in either skin or hair follicles in the animal, depending upon their genus. Sarcoptes spp. burrow into skin, while Demodex spp. live in follicles.

In humans, these two types of mite infections, which would be known as "mange" in furry mammals, are instead known respectively as scabies and demodicosis.

Chupacabra may not be an alien from Outerspace or escaped from Area 51. But if you see a Chupacabra you probably should call animal control. It is a sick animal that needs an anti-parasitic bath.

Chupacabras may not exist in the realm of Non-Fiction, but they are real to me goddamnit.