User:Nmillerche/sandbox/Tracking the Chupacabra

Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction and Folklore is a non-fiction book by Benjamin Radford, an American writer and investigator. The book documents Radford's five-year investigation into accounts of the chupacabra, a vampiric predator said to drain the blood of animal victims, while avoiding human detection as a well known cryptid.

Radford's work received generally favorable reviews within academic folklore, cryptozoological and skeptical publications, as Radford's investigation has been credited with solving the chupacabra mystery.

Overview
The author, Benjamin Radford, attempts to solve the mystery of the chupacabra, including whether it is a legend or real animal, what its physical and behavior characteristics are, its origin and connection to folklore, and what exactly is happening to the animals reported to be its victims.

Tracking the Chupacabra documents Radford's five-year investigation and travels, and also assembles the research, interviews and other information collected by Radford during this process.

Reception
Matt Crowley, reviewing the book for The Skeptical Inquirer in July 2011, recapped Radford's process of tracing the origins of reported chupacabra sightings, tracking the changing physical attributes of the creature based on its description as reports journeyed from Puerto Rico eventually traveling to the United States. Crowley praised what he described as the "elegance" of Radford's investigation, stating that it "lies in the process of the proof, not just the result."

Reviewing Tracking the Chupacabra for Library Journal, Janet Tapper described Radford as "thorough in his investigation; interviewing witnesses, providing creepy photographs of otherworldly creatures, serving up DNA analysis, and contemplating theories of mass psychosis." Tapper recommended the work, stating "this objective probe will appeal to readers interesting in exploring and exploding modern mysteries."

Reviewing the book for the Journal of Folklore Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland's Virginia Fugarino states that "to date, few books have been dedicated to taking a serious look at this creature," and commented on Radford's treatment of folklore, saying "he particularly explores how the chupacabra and other Latin American vampiric creatures can be seen to represent metaphorically postcolonial concerns and resentment of intrusion from outside political forces, specifically the U.S. government." While criticizing Radford for Fugarino states is taking an "at times [...] dismissive tone toward individuals who believe in the creature," she stated that the work was "clear and well presented."

The American Folklore Society invited Radford to speak at its 2011 Annual Meeting, where he presented an abstract, "The Chupacabra and Folklore." At the same meeting, Radford participated in a panel on "Fairy Animals, Demonic Beasts and Fantastic Creatures in International Tradition I."

Cryptozoologist Dr. Karl Shuker performed a review of Radford's work in a March 2012 issue of Fortean Times, stating that "the chupacabra has met its match," recommending the book's "scientific detachment and common sense" for readers looking for those traits.

In a review for Aztlán, an interdisciplinary journal of Chicano studies published by the University of California, Los Angeles, San Diego State University's William A. Nericcio wrote that "the power of Radford's work is the depth of his research." Nericcio went on to discuss the impact of Radford's investigation on the dialog in the Latin American community. According to Nericcio, "the rise of evangelical churches in Latin America and the American Southwest [...] coincides with sightings of the chupacabra and the virus-like spread of its mythology," referring to the perceived connection by some proponents between the chupacabra and satanic or occult phenomena.

A reviewer for The Latin Americanist, the University of Oklahoma's J. Justin Castro noted that chupacabra reports have "captured the imagination of people around the world," and praised Radford's "insightful and entertaining book," stating that "Radford sets the record straight, debunking many of the myths about the goatsucker." While Castro criticised some of Radford's arguments concerning feelings of U.S. exploitation of Puerto Rico as "largely unfounded," Castro stated that "His concluding arguments, on the other hand, are more viable. He makes a strong case that cinema greatly influenced the chupacabra phenomenon."

Short history of the Chupacabra
Opening with "The Goatsucker Mystery," Radford introduces the essential portions of the chupacabra legend and its different versions, comparing the creatures' characteristics with another cryptid, Bigfoot, which is "known less for what it is than for what it leaves behind," which are dead animals in the case of the chupacabra, or "goat sucker." Early eyewitness accounts are briefly described, as well as the migration of the chupacabra concept from Puerto Rico to Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and the United States.

Radford delivers an overview summarizing theories concerning the origin of the chupacabra, some paranormal or religious in nature, and interviews several cryptozoology experts, such as Karl Shuker and Jonathan Downes, who attribute a large number of reports as likely being caused by "several unrelated animals," and some as possibly the result of mongoose attacks, respectively. While animal predation is not a new phenomenon, Radford states that the element unique to most chupacabra reports are claims of the animals' blood being drained.

Folklore of the Chupacabra
In "A Brief history of Vampires," Radford writes about common themes of vampire folklore. While exploring 18th century accounts of european vampires, Radford notes that reports of vampire predation are used to explain otherwise unexplained misfortunes, such as disease, malnutrition, or loss of livestock. Noting that while most readers are likely to be be more familiar with vampires of Slavic origin, Radford continues to explore vampire folklore from Africa, Latin America, the Andes mountains, as well as several other specific vampiric legends, such as the Vampire of Moca and the "Monster-Thing" of Nebraska.

"Chupacabras in Popular Culture" describes how, in Radford's view, the legend grew in Puerto Rico from observations by locals of apparent animal predations into rumors of a mysterious creature that was responsible. According to Radford, a sensationalist news media leapt to conclusions, which, in Radford's opinion, further drove alleged sightings and reports, to the extent that "any odd event" was attributed to the chupacabra.

Search for the Chupacabra
The chapter "Searching for Chupacabras in Nicaragua" deals with Radford's investigation in Nicaragua near the Rio San Juan, where one of the best known alleged chupacabra remains had been discovered. While performing a physical search for the animal, Radford interviewed local experts, such as guide Fernando Casanova of Nicaragua's Indio Maiz Biological Reserve, about the local understanding of the chupacabra's "character or description," as well as examining tracks found in the area and comparing them to casts reportedly taken from scenes surrounding chupacabra victims.

In "The Dead Vampires Speak: Chupacabra Carcasses," Radford details analyses of various recovered corpses put forward as candidates for identification of the chupacabra animal. Included was a carcass discovered by Jorge Talavera in 2000 in Nicaragua, which was identified as a common dog by researchers at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN), though the UNAN analysis was disputed by Talavera as a cover-up. Talavera's chupacabra was also featured, along with an interview with Radford, in an episode of National Geographic's Is It Real? series.

"The Curious Case of the Cuero Chupacabra" covers the analysis of a carcass of the American canid version of the chupacabra, discovered by a rancher in Cuero, Texas. The chapter also details Radford's participation in an episode of MonsterQuest, which aired in 2008 during the series' second season. An analysis of the Cuero chupacabra indicated that it was a coyote suffering from mange, which accounted for its hairlessness.

Solving the Mystery of the Chupacabra
Having analyzed the various forms of chupacabra remains and reports, in "Reconsidering the Goatsucker," Radford attempts to determine the origins of the chupacabra creature. Radford's search for the first eyewitness report of the chupacabra leads him to interview Madelyne Tolentino of Canovanas, Puerto Rico, from whom the first descriptive account of the creature came shortly after the epidemic of animal predation reports. Tolentino's account bore a resemblance to the character Sil in the 1995 movie Species, a resemblance confirmed by Tolentino, who was interviewed by Radford. According to Radford, Tolentino "believed that the creatures and events she saw in Species were actually happening in reality at the time in Puerto Rico."

Radford concludes his investigation with the chapter "The Zoology of Chupacabras and the Science of Vampires." Compiling reports of researchers who examined victims of animal predation in apparent chupacabra attacks, Radford notes that the reports' claims that the animals had been exsanguinated were inaccurate. The apparent loss of blood, according to Radford, could be explained by internal hemorrhaging and pooling of blood at the bottom of the corpse. The attribution of the attacks on livestock to a vampiric entity can be explained by the puncture wounds resulting from the canine teeth left by most predators, who often instinctively go for the neck, according to taxidermist Jerry Ayer. Radford attributes much of the spread of chupacabra sightings to factors including the mass media (especially the Internet and television shows), eyewitness misperceptions, ignorance of forensic science, social contagion, and mass hysteria,[1]:166 and concludes that "every supposedly mysterious detail of the bloodsucking 'monster-thing' and its victims was explained."

Awards and nominations

 * 2011 — New Mexico Book Award Finalist
 * 2011 — ForeWord Review Book of the Year Award Finalist