Cryptids of Kansas - El Chupacabra Part 2:
Posted by Flint Hills Paranormal on June 18, 2020
Cryptids of Kansas
Cryptids of Kansas – Chupacabra Part 2:
In yesterday’s blog we covered some of the history of the Chupacabra in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Texas. We discussed the differences between the Texas Blue Dogs and the Puerto Rican razor-backed Chupacabra, and the horrible mite infestation that can cause animals to lose their hair. This blog is going to focus on a creature I was given photos of that does not resemble the Puerto Rican idea of a Chupacabra, the Texas Blue Dog or the Xolo of Mexico.
I have been involved with the paranormal for over 50 years, in a way, most of my life in one way or another. I have seen many things that have fascinated me, frightened me, but most of all made me believe that there are things we do not understand, and that life is a mysterious learning experience. My career choice was to be a Counselor, but I also have a MS in Biology. I have been fascinated by cryptozoology since I read the late Bernard Heuvelman’s book, ‘On the Track of Unknown Animals,” when I was in high school. That book showed me the possibilities that are out in the remote areas of the world, or even in our backyards, that have not been proven yet. This is one search that I will continue, beginning in El Dorado so many years ago now.
I had been asked to come to a home in El Dorado because they were having a great deal of paranormal activity in their home. Doors banging, voices of several people and other activity, enough to bother anyone. I had done a walk through of the house, taking photos and getting EMF levels to see where the active areas were for a later investigation. The residents and I were talking about a number of things before I left the house and I happened to mention my interest in cryptozoology. The husband looked at me innocently and said, “Well, would you like to see a photo of a Chupacabra?”, and I of course said, “Sure!”, thinking I would see a mangy dog. He went to his computer, fired it up and went through many photos, and said, “Here ya go!”. I looked at the animal, looked closer, and looked even closer. This creature did not resemble any animal I had ever seen before. It certainly was not the Puerto Rican Chupacabra with wings and spikes down its’ back, and it certainly wasn’t the scrawny Texas Blue Dogs that have been seen in many locations of Texas. This creature looked canine but was something very odd.
The husband said that he had thrown out some old chicken bones in the corner of the back yard and just happened to see this creature eating them. He took several photos of it eating through a screen window, so the image was a bit distorted. Their back yard backed onto railroad tracks, which was very easy access for many animals. Just like humans, animals will always take the easiest route to get from one place to another, the path of least resistance. The railroad tracks made very easy access for long term travel. He stated that he had not seen it again in the area or in the back yard, so it was probably passing through. He later sent me copies of the photos he had taken and was given permission to share them with others in the field. This started my obsession with this creature.
Many times, over the years, I was contacted about a “Chupacabra” running around in Topeka, Emporia, Melvern and other areas of Kansas. Photos were taken of the creatures, and in all of these cases, it sadly was a dog or coyote with mange. I was driving across town on I-35 that goes around Emporia and saw an unusual animal on the side of the road eating trash. I stopped and watched the animal for quite a long time and tried to get it to come to me, but it would run off. It also unfortunately was a hapless coyote with mange with no hair on its’ body and it seemed starved. Unfortunately, starvation and hypothermia were in the future for this poor animal. The link below is a video of one of these animals in Topeka.
Chupacabra in Topeka or Mangy coyote?
There are many mysterious canids that have been seen from time to time across the United States. One is called the Shunka Warak’in, which means, “carries off dogs,” that was shot and mounted in Montana in 1886. The mount disappeared and later was rediscovered in 2007, and is now located in a general store- museum in Henry’s Lake, Idaho. This is a large hyena or wolfish type of creature that the Ioway tribe called the “ringdocus”. Another is the, thought to be extinct, “Dire Wolf”, but in the video link below, this creature may still be in our vast northern regions. (The dog doesn’t get hurt.) There is also an American Hyena, with black, shaggy fur and a sloping back, but none of these canids resemble the creature in the photos. When I was first getting involved with Bigfoot research, I met a bigfooter in Oklahoma that told me that he had seen a terrifying pack of “Hyenas” chasing a herd of deer through a meadow. He was positive of that they were hyenas and not coyotes, enough so that he said he was not going back into that area again.
Possible Dire Wolf?
Not long after I received these photos, I shared them with my brother who has a PhD in Mammalogy to get his opinion on what this creature could be, but he had no idea either. He started looking for these oddities since his job took him across Kansas. Near Andover, he said he through he saw one near evening on a country road. About three miles from my house, near evening, I was driving on a dirt road and an animal the correct size, and “shiny”, like it had no hair, started to come out on the road and then ran back into the high grass of the pasture. I drive dirt roads constantly trying to spot this critter or anything else of the odd nature. I have seen plenty of Kansas critters, set game cameras and dirtied up my car, but have not seen one of these animals pictured in the photo yet.
Years ago I ran across a Youtube video of a news story about the Chupacabra being found, or “Proof Positive”, or something like that. I have tried and tried to find it again, especially for this blog, but without success. I had taken a photo of the animal that had been seen near a factory in Kentucky. Many workers at the factory had watched this creature playing with dogs and running around in this area for several days, before it moved on, and there was a great video of it romping. I have attached this photo and I believe you will be able to see a close resemblance to the animal photographed in El Dorado.
Animal in video from Kentucky
Welcome to my obsession. This creature, as you can see in the photos below, is a very robust, muscular animal. It is not thin and weak looking in any way, as are the Blue Dogs. The ears are large and very hyena-like. It has a long, hog-like muzzle, and has a Mohawk of hair running from the middle of its’ head down its’ back. The back legs are longer than the front, so it has a hopping kind of gait, and it has no hair on the body. Its’ skin tone is a darkish grey. It obviously is a carnivore and not vampire, by any means. Compare the photos and decide for yourself. But please, if you should see something like this, message me!! The search continues!!
El Dorado photo.
El Dorado photo.
Dickenson County:
A member of the FHP Team had a recent sighting of a possible Texas Blue Dog or Chupracabra on February 12, 2022. This is her report:
"Well, we saw something last night driving home on old 40, southwest of Abilene. Looked like part dog, part coyote and feline. Long legs, on all 4's, long tail, glowing eyes. Black hair. Slinked in movement like a cat. Kinda hunched down. It watched us till we passed, while it slinked off.
A friend of ours said she has seen it in the area 3 times. We're pretty sure it's a skin walker. Or something like that. Was pretty freeky." TLH
She later added the following information: "So it was in the 600 Block of W. Old 40. We just went that way again to make sure. Didn't see anything, but last night it was a couple of hours later too." That would be around 11:30 pm to midnight.
Lyon County:
On November 27, 2017, I received a call from an individual about a possible sighting of a Chupacabra in Lyon County outside of a ladies home, around 2 miles South of Emporia, Kansas. The man who called me gave me the ladies name and telephone number and said that she would be very interested in someone “paying attention to what she saw.” He also said that she lived on this farm by herself and was frightened by what she saw.
I got my investigators pants on and gave her a call. She said that she saw something that “looked like a coyote, but it didn’t seem to have any hair on its’ body and was acting oddly.” She added that it was “grey in color, about 2-foot high at the shoulder, and was doing some odd hopping motion.” She further added that, “ It’s tail was between its’ legs, had long, skinny legs, a flat belly and long neck. It also had some small black and white hairs around the neck area.” She inferred that some of the neighbors had seen this creature in the area, as well.
I asked if I could come out to her house and look around to see what I could find and maybe set up some game cameras. She agreed and I found myself with a county map, driving all of the gravel roads around her location to see what the area looked like, and hoped I would see this creature.
She had told me that a neighbor had seen this creature in an area where there was a creek bed near the road, so I wandered down into that area with out any luck. Without seeing anything of interest, I went to her house which was a very long drive up a hill and into a wooded area, dotted with open areas where there once was a field. She showed me where she had seen the creature in the tall grass not far from her home. She had two small ponds near the house so I set game cameras around the ponds. I walked the property and saw several deer trails, but no naked dogs running around.
A few days later, as I was going to check my game cameras, I drove up the gravel road near her home and just off of the road I saw a coyote that had been hit by a car very recently. I went up to her place and got my cameras. While I was there, I told her what I had seen down the road and that it was possible that this could have been the creature she had seen in her yard, as she had told me that they rarely see any coyotes in the area, but I would check my cameras and speak to some of the neighbors.
I got nothing on the cameras, other than some beautiful photos of deer going to the pond to drink. I contacted some neighbors, and none had really seen anything unusual in the area, and said that she had probably seen a coyote.
I reported my findings to this lady and she reluctantly agreed that she might have seen a coyote and misidentified it. I told her to get in contact with me if she sees it again, and since 2017, I haven’t heard anything from her. There was no Chupacabra, but was another fun adventure out in the woods.
If you see something strange or have any questions, please feel free to contact me at flinthillsparanormal@gmail.com or message me on our Facebook page.
Stay strange!
Dr. Linda Clarke
Youtube.com, “Kansas ‘Chupacabra’ caught on camera in Topeka,’ August 13, 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYqHftaCgEQ
CJonline.com, “Kansas ‘Chupacabra’ photos submitted in Droves Following Last Weeks Column,” Josh Rouse, August 13, 2016.
Youtube.com, “Man Catches HUGE Wolf Attack Dog on Camera,” October 1, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjxcjq0t3iU#action=share
Native Languages of the Americas: Preserving and Promoting Native American Languages.