During a night in a rural Texas community, a mysterious creature was spotted that puzzled wildlife officials.
The eerie black-and-white video, filmed by a surveillance camera near Dublin in northeast Dallas, shows what appears to be a four-legged critter with a bulge on its back.
Michael 'Dumas' Demel, a 49-year-old resident from nearby Schulenburg, showed images· of the creature to friends, family and neighbors, who speculated it could be a "skinwalker," an alien or even a "chupacabra" — a notorious blood-sucking creature from American folklore.
The Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife had no clue about it, telling Demell that "due to the quality of the image, it was not possible to accurately identify the animal," adding that it was "too small to be a white-tailed deer cub." ”
"I have three different cameras in three different hunting areas — they capture coyotes, deer, bobcats, rabbits, raccoons and foxes," Demel told. ”
"I look at more than 100 photos taken by three cameras a day, but this is the only one where this creature appears."
"My first reaction was that something was wrong, so I stopped and zoomed in on the photo. My first instinct was that it was a monkey. ”
The mysterious creature appears to have a long snout, a small bulge on the top of its head, and a bulge on its back, which is why his friends believe it is a skinwalker.
The Skinwalkers are part of the Navajo lore, which is said to have been once healers and drug users, but fell for their own power and became evil supernatural creatures.
纳瓦霍语中"皮肤行者"的词是"yee naaldlooshii",意为"凭借它,它四肢着地行走"。
The story is for Navajo children and says that skinwalkers can transform into animals, possess others, or disguise themselves.
When in human form, Skinwalkers are depicted as possessing glowing red eyes and animal features that are almost obscured by human faces.
"I show this to my neighbors, family and friends. The reactions I get ranged from skin walkers, monkeys, vampires to aliens," Demel said.
"You've heard stories about vampires in the Southern Texas region."
The word "vampire" is derived from the Spain word meaning "sheep sucker" and is also a legendary creature known for killing domestic animals.
Sightings began in the late 1980s, when farmers in Puerto Rico claimed that a dog-sized creature with lizard-like skin and a pronounced spine was attacking their animal.
The first report of a vampire in Texas came in 2017 when Phylis ·Canion, a rancher in Cuero, described the creature as having large, pointed teeth, large ears and bony limbs.
She also said that its hind legs were longer than its front legs, creating an unnatural bend.
The description is similar to what Demer captured on a surveillance camera he had for about 10 years, and he had never captured such a strange creature.
"It's really different," he said. "I've seen thousands of game photos over the years and spent a lifetime hunting in the forest – for the first time."
The creature's true identity remains a mystery.