Tests show that Texas "goat sucker" is a coyote [View All]

US scientists say an animal found in Texas is not the chupacabra - or goat-sucker - of American myth, but a coyote with a hair loss problem.
DNA tests on the carcass found at a ranch south-east of San Antonio yielded a virtually identical match to coyote DNA, biologist Mike Forstner said.

The coyote was one of three found dead by rancher Phylis Canion this summer.

Central American myth has long spoken of a vampire-like creature that slays livestock by sucking out their blood.

The chupacabra is said to attack its victims at night, leaving a trail of carcasses with their throats torn out.

Mr Forstner said that he himself had assumed the creature brought in for testing at Texas State University was a domestic dog but "the DNA sequence is a virtually identical match to DNA from the coyote
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7076192.stm

I suspect it will end up being coyotes with bad cases of mange. We had a fox with mange up here in Maryland not too long ago that made headlines because it was totally furless and very weird looking and some people thought it was some weird new cross breed.
I love seeing modern science in action--solving mysteries!