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Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

NICK REDFERN: Head to Head with a "Chupa"

Most of you who read this blog have, I'm sure, heard the dark tales of the so-called "Texas Chupacabras" - those weird, hairless canines that have been seen roaming the woods of the Lone Star State for the last few years.

Well, as you may also know, over the course of the last few years, I have made several trips to Puerto Rico looking for the island's very own vampire, which in some ways, resembles the Texas Chupacabras but that in other ways, is acutely different.

Anyway, that thorny and controversial issue aside, in the latter part of last year I gave a lecture for the San Antonio chapter of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).

And who should come along to the lecture? None other than MUFON legend and former head of the group, Walt Andrus.
But, there's more...

Walt brought along with him to my presentation nothing less than the skull of one of the hairless whatsits killed in Texas, that many believe to be a cousin of the blood-sucking beast of Puerto Rico. The skull had been donated to Walt by its former owner.
And there's even more!

Imagine my surprise when, a week or so ago, John Schwab (who currently runs the San Antonio MUFON group) emailed me to say that Walt wished to donate the skull to me - a skull that has just now arrived at my Arlington, Texas home.

Mercifully, I suspect the mailman had no idea at all of the monstrous form that he was depositing on my doorstep...

So now; thanks to Walt, John, Julie and all at SA MUFON; an honest-to-goodness Texas Chupacabras (or hairless dog, depending on your own, personal opinion...) sits proudly upon my office desk.

And as evidence, here is a photo of the monstrous critter (I'm on the left; the monstrous critter is on the right...) taken earlier this evening.

My wife, Dana, utterly hates it already.... :)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This more than makes up for all the time and emotional energy we've all spent fretting over the giant Peruvian snake photos this past week!
I hope Nick plans on getting it analyzed and tested.

Anonymous said...

Photograph it from every conceivable angle with a measurement scale in each shot, please, and post the pictures so that the skull may be compared to existing coyote skulls...

Anonymous said...

Which is the new skull? I think we should be told......

Nick Redfern said...

Bigfoot73/Dan:

Yes, it most assuredly is canid - there's absolutely no doubt about that.

My view on the "Texas Chupacabras" is that they are all Canid.

And, I don't think they have any connection with whatever the Puerto Rican Chupacabras may or may not be - aside from the fact that the name has been used to describe the Texas animals.

But, although the skull is indeed canid, it definitely did come from one of those hairless dogs killed in Texas; so in that respect it is a "Texas Chupacabras," even though I don't think they are out-of-the-ordinary animals - they just lack hair and look weird.

Tim:
haha, very good! :)