Juanita, the el chupacabra, proved a nemesis to the Alcalde of
the town of Ponce, in Puerto Rico. He vowed revenge after she killed
his hunting dogs as he tried to enforce his "destroy the el chupacabra
Campaign". She was torn between wanting her civilized sister's
existence and her own freedom in the forest. The el chupacabra is defined
as the goat eater, a name she disdains; she never drank the blood of
a goat, but was glimpsed by a farmer in that position... before she
slipped back into the forest to eat her prize.
The Alcalde spent Sunday preparing his revenge. He knew he had
erred in using his bird dogs to hunt the el chupacabra and he found only
two of their bodies. From them he learned how they were killed and
where in the chupacabra's range they'd died.
He solicited the help of a master hunter, Senior Fuentes del
Ascension. Together they would employ blood hounds to follow the
monster's scent left on his dog's bodies.
Additionally, bull mastiffs would follow the blood hounds to hold or
keep at bay the chupacabra until they moved in for the kill.
So the Alcalde took Senior Fuentes into the forest and showed him
the areas he had hunted and failed. Together they planned a new
strategy and a few surprises for their prey. Tonight's hunt will prove
eventful, their success was engineered.
The sun went down and they rested from the day's preparations,
waiting for the moonrise and hunt. A gibbous moon, high in the sky,
would trickle light through the tree canopy and aid the headmounted
lanterns they planned to wear.
And miles away, the chupacabra was already hunting. She could
smell disturbed earth on some of her trails and so took extra care to
leave no sign of her own. Down by the bogs she caught scent of a swamp
deer, the first in over a year! From down wind she stalked and then
spied it munching on the tulles. It ambled towards her and she
hunkered down, waiting for the moment.
The deer nibbled her way toward her demise and was but feet away
when the el chupacabra struck. Springing up, she collided with the deer
full body to stun. She grabbed for the head and bit under the neck in
the classic chokebite fashion. In a slow-motion dance, they rolled
over with Juanita, of course, on top. She held the deer down until it
twitched its last kick and then fed quietly, hidden in the reeds.
Over to the reservoir she strutted to wash and drink sweet water.
Basking in the moonlight she was, for the moment, at peace. Up a
tree she climbed to nap and digest her meal. She was awakened by the
sound of barking dogs. The noise came from the direction of the deer
carcass; they'd found her kill. She could hear the voices of two men,
and recognized one: del Alcalde!
The dogs were but ten minutes away; so to break the scent trail
she leapt to a near tree and then into the reservoir, with hardly a
splash. She swam quietly to the other side, wrung out her hair and
squeegeed her skin with her hands.
She listened; and sure enough, her tree trick worked. Confused
barking and even a curse was heard across the water. Her plan was to
double back around the bog and wait out the night in a Cypress tree.
She looked up to the moon, and smiled back.
But just down the trail, up from the bog, she saw the bouncing
beam of a headlamp! How could... they'd split up! To her right came a
deep growl; the biggest dog she'd ever seen was crouched, ready to
pounce.
The el chupacabra leapt first and came down hard on the dog's middle
with her knee. She felt the mastiff's back crack and it yelped in
pain. Still it managed to turn its head and clamp massive jaws on her
left calf. She struggled to break apart its grip, to no avail. So
she reached up and gouged the big dog's eye; it yelped again and she
sprang away. Immediately she was caught in the beam of Fuente's
headlamp. Up the trail she scampered, before a shot was fired.
Fuentes stared incredulously; his best dog lay whimpering with a
broken back and dangling eyeball. The chupacabra had limped off
without him even getting off a single shot. He bid his dog good-bye
and with a rifle to the head ended its suffering. Two
whistles and his blood hound showed. After a couple sniffs and a
little coaxing, up the trail it chased.
Excited yelp-barking up the trail told Fuentes that the Alcalde
had completed the encirclement and was on the chupacabra's trail. He
knew it must have gone up the mountain at the trail's tee to avoid
Fuentes. He also knew the trail led down the loop towards the reservoir
and into the trap they'd carefully set. Alone, he leaned into the
mountain trail towards a foreshadowed meeting.
By watching the Alcalde's lamplight through the trees, he could
see they were coming down the mountain. He heard his blood hound
sounding; he went to meet them with his rifle ready.
Fuentes reached the trap they'd set and turned off his headlamp
to let his eyes adjust to the moonlight. Behind a tree he hid, and
within a minute heard something running down the trail. He had to
check his impulse to leap out and shoot into the dark.
The chupacabra came running down the trail at full speed, closely
followed by Fuentes' second mastiff. The great bitch leaped and both
disappeared in a crashing finish. Shaken, Fuentes turned on is headlamp
and approached the trap slowly. The Alcalde and blood hound finally
showed and they all froze in their tracks.
"It fell into the trap!", rasped Fuentes.
"OK, rifles ready...Let's go!.
From opposite sides they approached and peeked over the lip of
the pit. In the lamplight they saw two bodies impaled on sharpened
stakes. The chupacabra had its hands on the great dog's throat and the
dog had clamped on her's. Bamboo stakes had won the final contest.
"It's but a girl!", yelled Fuentes.
"It's a dead demon", answered the Alcalde.
"We can't bring in the body of a little naked woman, who would
believe?"
"No one at all my friend." And then, "Help me fill the hole,
Fuentes."
epilogue:
The townsfolk knew there'd been another hunt and that more dogs
had died. The Alcalde was oddly quiet about his contract with destiny.
No one asked.
Maria waited all day Sunday, but Juanita never showed. Her
searches into the forest resulted in nothing, except for rekindling her
love for things a bit uncivilized... You see, in searching for her
twin, Maria found she was hunting again. Juanita would have
liked that.
more information: El Chupacabra El Chupacabra pictures El Chupacabra video
