Biologist: Texas 'chupacabra' a hairless raccoon

Combine a raccoon with a chupacabra and you get. ...

A chupa-coon? A rac-a-cabra?

Folks in Wise County have wondered for the past week if they've captured the legendary chupacabra -- that mythical creature of south-of-the-border lore known to suck the blood from the livestock it attacks.

A small, hairless animal was found dead Jan. 13 by a maintenance worker at Runaway Bay Golf Course near Lake Bridgeport.

A state biologist who examined it on Tuesday assured that the animal was a male raccoon, probably no more than a few months old.

How it lost its hair, however, was still a mystery on Wednesday.

"It was a raccoon, no doubt about it," said Jennifer Barrow, the biologist. "It's feet were a real giveaway. It had long toes, narrow feet ... everything right for a raccoon."

Read the complete story and see the picture of the hairless raccoon check the star-telegram.com

This story was originally published January 21, 2010 at 1:19 PM with the headline "Biologist: Texas 'chupacabra' a hairless raccoon."