This episode unveils a rather scary, nerve wracking event that seemingly fell out of a horror movie. The year is 1995, in the beautiful city of Puerto-Rico, known for its large mass of jungle, livestock, and diverse cultures and traditions. A new fear swept through this city that would send shivers down the spine.
It happened as suddenly as lightening; locals were discovering their livestock dead overnight. While this seems normal, what’s strange is the manner of death. These animals were still intact – not torn apart or eaten, but seemingly drained of blood with only one distinctive injury; two bite marks on the neck. Locals fear the worst as this wave continued to sweep all over the city, animals reported dead all around, seemingly drained of their blood and brandishing two bite marks, precariously similar to a vampire attack. The legend thus began, locals called this beast, El-Chupacabra or simply Chupacabra. These attacks continued for a while until it suddenly stopped and there was peace.
Now, over decades after, while the legend of the chupacabra is almost forgotten, fresh cases of animals reported dead, drained of their blood and brandishing two bite marks have risen up again. The worst is feared – the chupacabra is back. Reports claim that there has only been one popular sighting of this beast. A local woman was reported to have seen the creature. She narrated what she saw to a pencil sketcher and the visual results are horrifying. The visuals reveal a creature, reptilian in appearance and nature, grayish in color, having clawed feet, arms and spikes running down its back. The most distinctive and horrifying feature was its large red eyes. While some believe it is an alien, others believe it is a hybrid produced by government experiments.
To investigate these attacks, Josh Gates heads to San-Juan, Puerto-Rico, to meet with a leading expert and author on the case, Benjamin Radford, who asserts that the chupacabra is deadly and has left a trail of bodies all over Central America. But where did it come from? Benjamin speculates that a deadly hurricane befell Puerto-Rico in 2017 and it may have carried wild beasts from inside the jungle or at least have altered where they live and feed because most places have been destroyed. Benjamin has brokered a deal with a local, whose livestock chickens had just been freshly attacked, carrying the trademark of the chupacabra.
Both men head to the locals’ farm and what they find is absolutely terrifying – indeed, the chickens were all dead with two bite marks on their necks as the only wound. They were drained of blood but they didn’t bleed to death. The whole scenario is very ‘’vampirical’’ in nature and arouses more curiosity. What known animal could do this? Which wild animal just kills and drinks blood for sport without feeding on their prey? Could this be a vampire attack? Why does it feed on just animals and not humans? One thing is for sure, you could be a skeptic of the chubacabra all you want, but something was definitely killing these animals; the trail of dead animals speaks for itself. Josh needed answers, so he bagged the animals and sent them to a vet lab for testing.
To uncover more truths about this beast, Josh and Benjamin meet with two men who are locals and went into the jungle to find the chubacabra and perhaps kill it. Puerto-Rico is their home and they were not about to allow a wild beast threaten their livelihoods. They told Josh and Ben that one of them, Nino, actually saw the beast and ran for his life. He described exactly the picture that has been famed all about – large red eyes, grayish skin, and spiky back; there might be some truth to this. He points Josh and Ben in the direction of the cave where they sighted the chupacabra, and the four men set out, farther into the jungle, tracking the beast.
They arrive in the dark cave littered with a thousand insects, dangerous spiders, and even snakes. Fearlessly, they approach deeper into the cave and with the aid of infrared goggles; they can see brightly in the dark cave. Josh hears a weird animal noise and follows the sound deeper into the cave until they got to the back, which opens up to the jungle again. Perhaps the creature had been spooked and escaped, but they also found weird skin in the cave. It looked like it was shed and not by a snake. Could this be the chubacabra skin? It certainly fits the description – grayish and thick. Josh bagged it for testing. He was not done investigating.
Josh again meets with another leading expert, Ernesto Marquez, a marine biologist and animal specialist. Along with some of Josh’s camera crew, they plant some cameras all around the property the chubacabra last attacked. Josh and Ernesto combed the west side of the property, while Evan (camera crew) searched the east side. With the help of a camera that detects heat signature, Josh sees the figure of a strange animal. Along with Ernesto, they investigate, but find nothing. Evan finds hair along the branches and hears the same weird noise Josh hears in the cave. A camera they planted in the trees reveals a strange looking creature, but it is still unclear what it was. All night, they find no more signs of the creature.
The next morning, Josh heads to the vet, who shocks him with stranger news. Apparently, the bite marks, according to the vet could have been from dogs – its canines can create the bite marks on the dead livestock. Also, the animals were not drained of blood – when chickens die, their blood is clogged and their body dries, and this looks like they’ve been drained. The vet states that it could have been wild dogs.
Be that as it may, the situation is unlikely. Wild or not, dogs tear their prey to pieces? Is the chubacabra another government experiment involving dogs and science? Was this an alien? Where did this beast come from? Why does it just bite and not feed? What does it feed on? What exactly is the chubacabra?
