Chupacabra sightings have been happening across Texas since the 1970s, but they may be coming to an end.  Unless, of course, there are dozens of these bloodsuckers still lurking in our East Texas trees.

Adventurous types in Texas have been looking for mysterious creatures for years, and it can be a fun outing with friends on a lazy Saturday afternoon.  Until you find one.  Then what?

Bigfoot sightings have been happening for more than one hundred years, according to Weird Texas, but Chupacabra sightings are much newer.  There were a few mysterious reports that could be tied to a Chupacabra in the 1960s in Latin America, but most of the buzz about the legendary "goat sucker" seemed to start in the 1970s and progressed from there.

Weird Texas said witness accounts tend to lead to the idea that the Chupacabra is a creature about four feet tall with short arms, weighs up to about seventy pounds, has gray skin with spikes or hair running down its spine, and has rear legs like a kangaroo.

Farmers and ranchers have reported missing livestock or slaughtered animals over the years, and because they lacked any other good explanation, they attributed the attacks to a slithery creature with razor-sharp teeth and claws like the Chupacabra.  There has been much debate over the years about whether this ruthless creature is myth, legend, or a very real monster lurking in our East Texas trees.

Dallas resident, Nick Redfern, wrote a book called Three Men Seeking Monsters, and after interviewing farmers and ranchers about Chupacabra encounters in the summer of 2004, he said he's a believer.  Among other things, he said many people who had seen the Chupacabras had also seen strange balls of glowing light that ranged from tennis ball size to basketball size in the same vicinity.  Some have connected Chupacabras to the paranormal.

Weird Texas said between July and October of 2004 there were an abundance of Chupacabra sightings in Texas, and one rancher in Elmendorf shot a creature that had been killing his livestock. He buried the remains before the authorities could do too much investigating.  Also during that time, a Lufkin resident shot and killed a similar creature and a local veterinarian couldn't identify what type of animal it was but thought it "looked similar to a starving greyhound with a serious case of mange."  It hadn't been seen before.

If those two animals were indeed Chupacabras and they were killed, there's no point in hitting the trails in search of any others because they've been wiped out.  But, something tells me adventurous Texans will stay on the trail until they find one and put the video on Tik Tok.

Good luck in your search, and remember, the bright lights could be a dead giveaway.

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