# Now there's a Texas mystery animal to go with the one in Maryland **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 30, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596 "2004-07-30T15:02:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596/1 "2004-07-30T15:02:18Z")
…But we’ve got a corpse. [http://www.nbc10.com/news/3591072/detail.html](http://www.nbc10.com/news/3591072/detail.html) Check out the photo gallery. Similar, but not quite the same. And ours is…blue? WTF? Also mentioned on [www.dallasnews.com](http://www.dallasnews.com), but they only have a slideshow and you have to look for it on their front page (it may get moved later today) - I don’t know how to link to a javascript pop-up window. The dallasnews link has more pictures but may require (free) registration. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596/2 "2004-07-30T15:24:17Z")
Ooh! It says we have one in Florida, too! I’d go on a road trip if my car wasn’t a piece of crap … don’t want to break down in the woods with nothing but a strange mystery chupacabra type animal for company. Is it just my untrusting nature or is this starting to sound rather hoaxish? And is “hoaxish” even a word? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596/3 "2004-07-30T15:32:11Z")
> [@Tiramisu](#): > > Is it just my untrusting nature or is this starting to sound rather hoaxish? > > And is “hoaxish” even a word? 😕 I’d tend to lean toward “hoax” or “misidentification of a freakin’ dog” but… Well, a farmer shot the Texas critter and the damn thing’s blue! I’ve never heard of a blue-skinned hairless dog before…and it’s not exactly shaped like any dog I’ve ever seen or heard of…not that I’m some kind of zoologist… It’s odd that they’re suddenly appearing all over the place. I dunno. It’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596/4 "2004-07-30T15:43:30Z")
Looks like a shaved canine of some type. Maybe someone should check the different areas and see if they have a fraternity or some other pledging organization in common. You know, like something ya gotta do to get into the club. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596/5 "2004-07-30T15:53:20Z")
Maybe it’s just me but I am not seeing blue in that pic. It certainly is strange and not altogether dog-like looking but I will wait until I see a necropsy report from a reputable zoologist. What is odd is all the reports suddenly popping up at the same time from all over the place. If these things have been around for a while and that spread out, why are we just now seeing them? ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596/6 "2004-07-30T16:08:42Z")
Check the pics on [dallasnews.com](http://dallasnews.com) to see the critter in all its blue-hued glory. It’s not a rich cobalt blue or anything, but it’s there. Picture quality seems to vary wildly between websites on the same pictures for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596/7 "2004-07-30T16:22:11Z")
Whoops - I’m a dumbass - it wasn’t [dallasnews.com](http://dallasnews.com) that has the pictures, it was our local NBC station’s website. See a slideshow here: [http://www.nbc5i.com/slideshow/news/3592199/detail.html](http://www.nbc5i.com/slideshow/news/3592199/detail.html) Better picture quality and more info than the other link. Sorry for the mis-info. I’m multi-tasking. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596/8 "2004-07-30T16:37:22Z")
Thanks for the new pics, although most of those pics and the Maryland ones are a waste of space. “Here’s people at a market looking at the pics”, “Here’s the trap that was set”, “Here’s a chicken like one of those that was eaten.” Grrrr … There is something familiar about that animal that is tickling my brain but I can’t make the connection. Was this corpse turned over to some authorities or a university to study? I didn’t see any mention of it. If not, I am going to continue to be suspicious. Because if you actually capture a Hogzilla or Chupacabra you don’t just snap a couple dubious pics and then bury it in the backyard. You’d use it to get yourself on Jay Leno! ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596/9 "2004-07-30T16:43:56Z")
I agree 100% - two worthwhile pictures, and the rest a waste of bandwidth. Do we really need an example of what a chicken looks like? I’m also curious about what “local animal experts” were called in - Elmendorf, Texas is not exactly a bustling urban center (I’m not even sure where the heck it is…) so I’m hoping the carcass makes its way to a zoo or something where somebody better qualified than the local dogcatcher can take a look at it. I wish there was an actual news story to go with the pictures… ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596/10 "2004-07-30T16:49:12Z")
Found a new story about it. [http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content\_id=A8436E17-3306-4B96-99E2-5F9B5543A794](http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=A8436E17-3306-4B96-99E2-5F9B5543A794) Turns out it could be…a weird, tusked killer deer with mange? Somehow, that’s weirder than the whole “unknown blue hairless dog-thing” theory. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596/11 "2004-07-30T18:07:36Z")
I thought the one in Texas looked like a deer, and not anything like the one in Maryland. That one picture of the Maryland creature, where it’s sitting on the road, has anyone ever seen a domestic dog with a tail that long? And it’s definately not a wild boar or a wart hog. I still think it’s a hyena or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-theres-a-texas-mystery-animal-to-go-with-the-one-in-maryland/257596/12 "2004-07-31T17:00:32Z")
One thing I hate about the South… all those damned chupacabras!