Creature Feature

I see your Chupacabras and Raise the Bet (Vampires in Puerto Rico)

Put on your sunblock vampires! We are going to the Caribbean; to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to be exact.

There, rosaimee , while promising to entertain us all with delicious hand picked, fresh roasted coffee, dared us to find something other than the Chupacabras to bring you.

Yes, the Island has the dubious reputation of being the cradle of this urban legend that has since terrorized the American SouthWest and quite a few countries in Latin America.

Whether we like it or not, this "goatsucker" that manages to elude description ( details usually become more abundant as the  amount of alcohol in the blood increases) has been unveiled. Behold sick coyotes, mangy raccoons and stray dogs... You have created an  indubitable monster.

Ah! But there is no need to lose hope. This little rock on the Caribbean has more than five hundred years of history to dig in. And yes, they had their share of conventional, and unconventional vampires in time. So move over, you little alien, genetic, experiment, demon dog or whatever our mojitos dictate! We are delving into the heart of the myth.

Night Callers/ Chotacabras:

Other wise known as night jars, these little birds carry a bad, bad reputation that has been going around since before Spaniards set foot on the Island. It all started innocently enough. You know, there are tales of birds who sleep all day and wake at dusk; birdies that when thirsty, will suckle from goats. Eventually, finding themselves short of milk and overstocked in imagination, the natives conjured this Caribbean version of the Strix. Add to that the incoming influence of African cultures and bits of old european fears in to the mix and one might find that it is hard to walk out after dark without thinking of fanthom birds. Impundulu are birds who take human form to feed very specific needs. Some of them have an inkling for blood... In colonial times we known as "Chotacabras" (if it sounds like Chupacabras is because they might as well be precursors of the Island most famous urban legend export).

The Moca Vampire:

The Moca Vampire (pronounced just like mocha, that delicious choco/coffee manifestation of heaven in a cup) is the Island's true claim to vampirism. Reports of this vampire, a resident of the northwest region of the Island, had come and gone for decades. A shape shifter, it has been reported to look anything from a man, pale and thin, given to dress in black, to a bird, to a human hybrid of hideous appearance covered in long, dark feathers; with a penchant for live stock.

In fact, the Moca Vampire was already quite a respected legend before the chupacabras showed up with his uninvited little snout and robbed Puerto Rico of some serious vampire heritage.

So famous, or infamous is the Moca Vampire that he made it to the notes of a renown scientist. Take that goatsucker!

Frank Drake, astronomer, founder of SETI and father of the Drake Theory in search of intelligent extraterrestrial life forms, served as director of the Arecibo Radio Telescope in the 1960's. He had moved to the Island to develop on research. Well, guess what... During his tenure, they had a situation with a "trespasser". A man dressed in black who happily wondered in and walked around the perimeter of the radar, in the dark, later to disappear. Oh! Did I mention that the Arecibo radar is suspended  at an altitude over two hundred feet?

Night loving acrobat? Vampire with a longing for distant stars? Scientists and night guards suffering food poisoning? You decide. However, the encounter was so bizarre that it was included on the book "Is Anyone Out There?", Of Drake's authorship.

So yes, we've done the unthinkable. Dethrone the Chupacabras, and bring to the table, a bit of respectable night terrors from Puerto Rico.

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In other news: We have a contest going on. Fool us once, the shame's on you. Fool us twice, you might win something interesting. Check "High Stakes", our latest publication, for details. We are still collecting lost souls for this challenge!

Any other places you might want to visit? Let us know in the comments.