While most Texans are now familiar with the weird, dog-like 'Chupacabras' that have been turning up around the state over the past seven years, many are unaware that the affair had its origins just south of San Antonio in sleepy Elmendorf. It was during the Spring of 2004 that a colorful and cultured poultry farmer named Devin McAnally began to lose his chickens to an unseen predator that seemed to kill in a sinister, vampire-like fashion... literally slaughtering his chickens and apparently drinking their blood, while ignoring the meat. Shortly thereafter, McAnally began to detect a strange, bluish, varmint wandering onto his property and figured it must be the culprit. The industrious Devin left a rifle propped in the fork of a tree and it ultimately paid off, as he dispatched the creature by sneaking up on it one morning. The dead animal was bizarre and creepy to McAnally, who didn't want to touch its remains. It was smallish and four-legged, weighing about 13 pounds and the monstrosity appeared to be completely hairless, with long fangs, tiny feet and a rat-like tail. When Devin snapped a photo of the carcass and posted it up at De Leon's Market, some of the local, old timers began to whisper that it was a Chupacabra - a blood drinking beastie that had migrated from south of the border. At the time, local author Whitley Strieber was interested enough in the Elmendorf Beast to have DNA testing done on its bones, even though John Gramieri of the San Antonio zoo thought that its skull resembled that of a coyote. Subsequent DNA tests determined that the Beast had been a feral, domestic dog of some sort, though no one could explain its grisly appearance. In the years to follow, similar specimens have garnered media attention around the state. But, it was the Elmendorf Beast that first brought the Chupacabras to Texas. - Ken Gerhard
