ELMENDORF
— A day after pictures of a mysterious creature shot by
a local rancher hit the Internet, the debate continues in
this quiet little town over exactly what the
strange-looking animal is.
Locals
gathered at DeLeon's Grocery and Market, looking at
pictures and talking about the critter that attracted more
than 100 visitors to the store Thursday afternoon.
"We
had a few people from Seguin and Poth come by this
morning," said Maxine Guerra, storeowner. "We
had one guy from Waco who stopped by on his way back home
to get a glimpse of the pictures."
The
doglike beast shot and killed by rancher Devin Mcanally
has captured the attention of many who say they have seen
similar animals in the area.
A
similar creature reportedly has been spotted in Maryland,
where locals are calling it the hyote, a combination of a
hyena and a coyote.
Ronald
Ray said his son recently shot and killed an animal in
Sabinal that looks a lot like the one Mcanally shot.
"My
son is definite that this is the same kind of animal he
shot the other day," Ray said.
He
said his son, who does ranch work in Sabinal, about 62
miles west of San Antonio, shot the animal when it came
hissing toward him.
Tyler
Hamilton, 10, of Helotes has his own idea of what the
strange animal might be.
"It's
a duiker," he said, referencing a small antelope
native to Africa.
Blue
duikers have bluish-gray skin when they are adults. They
have hair on the inner parts and under the tail. They are
most commonly found in areas with dense vegetation.
Jon
Cordova disagrees.
"It's
a Chinese Crested (dog)," Cordova said.
As
the debate continues, locals in this city of 669 said this
is the biggest story to hit this town since the 1930s,
when bootlegger Joe Ball killed himself.
According
to legend, Ball also known as the "Alligator
Man," kept a pond of seven pet alligators near his
tavern. When workers at his tavern began disappearing,
townsfolk speculated he had killed them and fed their
corpses to his alligators.
"When
he was called in for questioning he pulled out a gun and
shot himself," Nancy DeLeon, said. "The story of
Mr. Mcanally's creature is right up there with that one
now."
Mcanally
said he is surprised by the response he has received from
his mystery beast, but no one has offered to investigate
further.
He
has received numerous phone calls from radio stations and
even a visit from a man with the Mutual UFO Network Inc.,
a group devoted to the study of UFOs.
"I
talked to a radio station in Los Angeles this morning and
then this man came to visit," Mcanally said. "No
one has volunteered to do DNA testing though."
Barbara
Valdez, who has lived in Elmendorf for 17 years, said she
hopes more of these creatures aren't found.
"I
don't need anything spooky happening in this city,"
she said.
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