Bestiary |
Chupacabra
A bloodthirsty monster that targets domestic animals, especially goats, as revealed by its name, composed of the words suckling and goat. Originally from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, now found from Maine to Chile, including the Moravian city of Brno. The practically worldwide distribution of the creature, originally lizard-like in appearance, was achieved incredibly quickly: it was first seen in Puerto Rico in 1995, when it was also given a name (its godfather was comedian Silverio Pérez), only to be parodied four years later as El Chupanibre by the creators of the Futurama series in the episode I Second That Emotion. Adoption into popular culture is, of course, a sign of successful introduction of any species, whether natural, unnatural or supernatural. Chupacabra has starred in several films or TV shows (Grimm, Bones, Jackie Chan Adventures). Arguably the first of these, Guns of El Chupacabra, even dates back to 1997. So the creators were pretty quick (and its writers, Scott Shaw and Donald G. Jackson even witnessed the monster's attack themselves while working on the film in Mexico, according to the former). But the panic that hit Puerto Rico in ''95 was also fast-moving; the damage to livestock had to be explained somehow. And people basically like to panic, let's face it.
The chupacabra of the twentieth century was a lizard-like humanoid, with grey-green scaly skin and spines on its spine, stocky and about a meter tall. That's how the first witness, Madelyne Tolentino, described it. Nothing in her information changes the fact that she was actually talking about a creature she might have seen in the movie Species, which premiered at the time. As noted cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, also director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Maine, adds another, less likely but not impossible version of the origin could also be rhesus monkeys. Macaques, which are used as laboratory animals (the RH factor, an antigen found in blood, is named after them). The monkeys, which outside of South Asia make their home in many laboratories from which they can escape, like to put themselves on the back legs.
In the new millennium, however, the monster has changed. Quite substantially - it has stopped hopping on two and has begun to resemble more of a skinny dog. Three teeth in its mouth, the marks of which identify its victims. And in this form it became so popular that it came to our territory. The mention of Brno was not just an attempt at a joke; at Easter 2015, a visitor to the forests of Kohoutkov saw and photographed a strange animal, apparently a dog, which some internet discussants soon identified as a chupacabra. Even with this species, a possible natural explanation was soon found, into which the Moravian sighting would fit: leaving aside the immediate possibility of a sighting of a stray Mexican hairless dog (it too is suspect), there are mainly canids, especially coyotes, sick with mange, a mite-induced disease.
So much for appearance and observation. As for the activity itself, then attacks on livestock may also explain the above: predators weakened by disease or injury seek out easier prey - and domestic animals are such. But what about the blood-sucking? The traces of three fangs?
Would we agree with entomologist Barry OConnor of the University of Michigan that this part is pure folklore? Speaking for myself: Yes, we will. Because we've come to know well over the years the human tendency to dramatically enhance stories.
The reader's choice, of course, is up to the reader himself.
Ilustration by LeCire Vectorised by Karta24 (Image:Chupacabras.JPG) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
18.2.2025 (15.4.2018)
Jack Frost
Apparently, he is a remnant of the old Scandinavian deities called Jokul or Frosti. This personification of frosty weather is – among other things – responsible for ice paintings on winter windows.
18.2.2025 (5.9.2004)
Ínó, later Leukothea
She was born as an ordinary princess. As such, she stepped in the same river (or Greek myths) twice. The first visit wasn't quite right, and if she hadn't held the right child in the second story, things could have turned out pretty badly for her.
Some details:
When King Athamas married a second time, he had the children from his first marriage, Phrixus and Hellé, entrusted to his care. Which Ínó didn't like, so, like a proper fairy stepmother, she made sure they went. She did not, however, drive them out into the dense forest like Hansel and Gretel, nor did she rely on unreliable nature. She managed, by impermissible tricks, to induce her husband to sacrifice Phrixus for the sake of saving the crops. Phrixus stood on the altar, but fortunately, Athamas' ex-wife was the cloud goddess Nephele. She (or Hera, or Zeus) sent a flying golden ram, loaded up the children, and dispatched them to safety, whereupon she and her successor undertook the most legendary naval expedition of all time, the voyage of the ship Argo to Colchis.
Later, Ínó cared for the infant of her tragically deceased sister Semelé, her second contribution to the myths. The nephew had a high-ranking father, Zeus himself. That would have been fine, but on the other hand, there was Zeus' legitimate wife, Hera, who was able to take care of her marital and maternal rights. Even after the illegitimate son – later the high-ranking god Dionysos – was gone, Hera took her revenge. Athamas went mad, killing one of Ino's sons, and the terrified queen plunged into the sea with the other while fleeing from her husband.
Although this might have been punishment for attacking his stepchildren - and there were quite a few of these in Greek myth - Zeus decided to save Ínó after all, as a reward for helping to raise Dionysus. Ínó and her son Melikertês did not drown, the sea nymphs took them in, and the former queen became the goddess Leukothea, protector of sailors. Melikertes became Palaimon, the new protector of the harbors. He was worshipped mainly in Rome, though he was sometimes associated with the minister of the same, Portunus.
A mosaic of Ino, discovered 1833 in a Roman villa in Saint-Rustice, Musée Saint-Raymond, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
1.3.2025 (25.7.2004)
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