Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Topic started by: Unorthodox on June 23, 2016, 06:27:00 PM

Title: Chupacabra!
Post by: Unorthodox on June 23, 2016, 06:27:00 PM

https://www.boston.com/news/animals/2016/06/22/things-people-think-strange-animal-spotted-new-hampshire-graveyard-might (https://www.boston.com/news/animals/2016/06/22/things-people-think-strange-animal-spotted-new-hampshire-graveyard-might)


(https://www.boston.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/13509019_1085742024833785_7295002937481539600_n-850x478$large.jpg)

IMO, skull looks off for Coyote or Fox.  Admittedly, eastern coyotes are different than my local variety, and there could be some serious inbreeding deformity going on.  My guess is coy-dog, though.

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 23, 2016, 06:38:34 PM

My guess is the Oilify function in GIMP. ;nod

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 23, 2016, 06:39:20 PM

-Also, that's a cat's body, at least tail.

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Unorthodox on June 23, 2016, 06:45:20 PM

Quote from: BUncle on June 23, 2016, 06:38:34 PM

My guess is the Oilify function in GIMP. ;nod

If it wasn't from the police department, I'd be inclined to agree. 

Quote from: BUncle on June 23, 2016, 06:39:20 PM

-Also, that's a cat's body, at least tail.

I originally thought that as well, but am not totally sold there.  Especially with the head.  Again, policeman's cell phone.  Doubt it's a shoop. 

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Unorthodox on June 23, 2016, 06:48:49 PM

Red fox with mange for comparison.  Tail could fit in there. 

(http://www.pbase.com/chttrbx316/image/114707787/original.jpg)

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 23, 2016, 07:12:02 PM

If Hershey was that shade, that's his long thin, almost prehensile, tail as he walks, exactly.

And the head's shooped on, and not that subtly.  -I know a great deal more about shooping than the unimpeachable integrity of every police cop on this continent.

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Spacy on June 23, 2016, 10:21:07 PM

Dog

Seen several that looked like that.  Street dogs.  mangy.  Very inbred. 

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 23, 2016, 10:30:29 PM

...So inbred they're 3/4 cat...

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Unorthodox on June 24, 2016, 03:35:04 AM

That tail doesn't necessarily mean cat.  Chest would be off for most cats too, though harder to judge with assumed poor health there. 

That said, the hind leg reads more cat than dog.  Would expect a longer tibia to femur proportion in a dog. 

Meanwhile the front legs read dog again. 

So, chest forward reads dog, hind end reads cat.  And inbreeding could account for the hind end. 

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 24, 2016, 03:43:22 AM

That's a cow head.

-You want to believe, Mulder.

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Unorthodox on June 24, 2016, 03:45:23 AM

editted further skeletal comparison 

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 24, 2016, 03:57:09 AM

I've never seen a canid with the 's' curve in the tail - see it every day watching Hershey.

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Unorthodox on June 24, 2016, 04:14:18 AM

Quote from: BUncle on June 24, 2016, 03:57:09 AM

I've never seen a canid with the 's' curve in the tail - see it every day watching Hershey.

Only certain breeds can, but it's possible.  Greyhounds come to mind.  Some of the bushier tailed species might, but it would be disguised by the fur.  Labs and the like certainly can't with that club tail.  No clue on coyote or fox off hand. 

Grew up raising show dogs, been at many dog shows. 

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 26, 2016, 03:05:52 AM

I think chupas are normally foxes,coyotes, or coatimundis (with mange ). Probably the latter. Excuse phone and connection.

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 30, 2016, 05:05:05 PM

Coatis can at least contort their tails.

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 30, 2016, 05:46:35 PM

Not familiar with those - some kind of raccoon/raccoon-adjacent species?

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Unorthodox on June 30, 2016, 06:08:55 PM

Me either...

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 30, 2016, 09:48:39 PM

Think Latin-American raccoon. I think they range as far as Mexico. They eat a lot of the same stuff. Fruit, eggs, smaller critters. Or maybe an arborial badger of sorts. They have claws, moreso than "hands".  There's some variation in size.
They can be housecat-ish, or bigger than raccoons. Like raccoons, they are sometimes kept as pets, but aren't domesticated. 

I think they evolved in South America and spread north. Now I'll go look it up while computer and internet are still working ( I'm still on vacation, but it rained today. )

Title: Re: Chupacabra!
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 30, 2016, 09:57:53 PM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-nosed_coati

You were right. Raccoon cousin. Arizona-New Mexico down to Columbia.

There is a smaller species that lives basically on the other side of the Andes in the Amazon basin.