Chupacabra? Exhuming the Elmendorf Beast

The mysterious creature killed in Elmendorf is creating curiosity among scientists all over the country. The rancher you saw first on WOAI is getting calls from as far away as Philadelphia. Researchers will now dig up the bizarre-looking beast in an attempt to identify what some are calling the famed Chupacabra. 

After more than thirty chickens were slaughtered in broad daylight, rancher Devin McAnally thought he'd lost a lot of sleep trying to catch the wild varmint that did it. But weeks after he shot the strange creature, he's still sleepless in South Texas. 

“The curiosity’s the main thing,” explains McAnally. “You know - what is this?” 

Is it a mangy coyote? A Mexican hairless dog? A chupacabra? The fanged animal has no hair except for a short mane down its back. 

Since our story aired last week, McAnally’s heard it all. 

“I resolved that I wouldn't refuse anybody,” he said of people’s attempts to solve the mystery. “You know - that I would never know who might be of some assistance.” 

Since McAnally shot the strange creature a few weeks ago, he hasn't had anymore problems with his chickens, but he admits that a few people have asked if he's flown the coop. 

“I might be one of them if I'd been seeing something else,” maintains McAnally. 

Instead of questioning his claims, a national foundation is testing the creature. The Communion Foundation is interested in all things unexplained. They will exhume McAnally's creature and send it out for DNA testing. 

We talked to the founder, Whitley Strieber. 

“We've looked, and I must admit, in ‘Mammals of the World’ and other authoritative sources and we have not seen anything that was readily identifiable as this creature,” says Strieber. 

And McAnally says if it is simply a mangy coyote, he's still not crazy. 

“And if it is a disease… so what? We still would need to know what it is,” he said. 

The digging to collect the animal's remains begins Tuesday. It could take four to six weeks to get the DNA test results back from the lab.

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=E69839B5-5E04-45C5-9027-5CB484EBA2F4