With most cryptids seemingly confined to lakes, rivers, swamps, and forests, the American deserts might seem like a relatively safe place to be. But, as it turns out, mysterious creatures dwell there, too. By far the most famous desert cryptid is the chupacabra. Though the legend of this vampiric creature originated in Puerto Rico in the late 1980s and 1990s, many also claim to have seen them in the American Southwest and Florida and they have since become part of the local lore in these regions, especially in the southwestern states.
About the size of a medium-sized dog, the chupacabra is a nocturnal beast with glowing red eyes. "Chupacabra" is Spanish for "goat-sucker," and, true to its name, it is said to drink the blood of sheep and cattle at night, leaving their mangled corpses behind. Accounts vary, with some having fur and some having scales, but most agree that the cryptid has a prominent spiny back and large fangs. It may walk on four legs or hop on two and look like a dog, alien, or spiky gray kangaroo, depending on who you ask.
Most biologists attribute U.S. sightings of the creature to hairless foxes, wolves, and coyotes suffering from mange, which, being sickly and unable to hunt their normal prey, may have resorted to feeding on livestock. As for the mutilated corpses allegedly sucked dry by feasting chupacabras, these likely deteriorated due to natural processes – perhaps accelerated by the heat of the desert.
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