Doug Stewart says he was playing a round of golf at Santee Cooper Country Club in South Carolina on Saturday when he spotted a strange-looking creature on the grounds. Photo/Facebook
Doug Stewart says he was playing a round of golf at Santee Cooper Country Club in South Carolina on Saturday when he spotted a strange-looking creature on the grounds. Photo/Facebook
Photos of a strange-looking animal spotted in the Carolinas have stirred speculation that it is the mythical Chupacabra.
Doug Stewart says he was playing a round of golf at Santee Cooper Country Club in South Carolina when he spotted the gray, emaciated creature, according to Daily Mail.
"Ok...playingGolf in Santee SC. Can somebody pleeeeease tell me what the flock this is!?!? #ThatAintNoDog," Stewart wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday that has now been shared 1,550 times.
Some people commenting on Stewart's photos speculated the hairless, dog-like animal could be the mythical Chupacabra, a beast most commonly associated with the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America.
Either that, or a "demon straight from hell," one user commented.
Others weren't so convinced. "It's a red fox with mange," wrote another.
Chupacabra in Spanish translates to "goat sucker", in reference to the first reported sightings of the creature following the vampire-esque slaughter of numerous goats in Puerto Rico in 1995.
There has never been a confirmed sighting of a Chupacabra.
Jay Butfiloski, Furbearer Project manager for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, told ABC4 that the animal in Stewart's photos is in fact a canine with mange, possibly a coyote or fox.
Photo/Facebook
Butfiloski added that it's impossible to say for sure what species of canine it is without examining the animal in person.
"Either way, it has got mange," he said, adding that mange usually only shows up as a small, irritated patch on the skin.
Mange is caused by parasitic mite, which can be spread to people in rare cases.
A case of mange this severe means the animal will likely die from a secondary infection or starvation, or a combination of both, according to Butfolski.
