strange things tucson

Hide the children and secure the goats – a Chupacabra was spotted in Tucson. Although this creepy creature was originally born of Puerto Rican myth, it has since materialized and made its way across several continents.

The coyote-like critter has enjoyed sightings throughout the 1980s in South America, spent a bulk of the 1990s in Mexico and has been currently roaming through parts of the Southwestern United States.

Carcasses thought to be Chupacabras have actually been DNA tested after they were brought to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The results only proved the dead things were “some type of coyote,” although their snout and back legs exceeded the length of those found on a coyote. They also reportedly had large fangs jutting up from their bottom jaws.

The fangs surely helped give them their name, which translates from the Spanish as “goat sucker.” In addition to sucking goat blood, they are also known to attack small livestock like chicken and ducks and larger animals like cattle and horses but have never gone for a human.

From a giant Paul Bunyan to dozens of giant Magic Carpet statues, Tucson is stocked with pleasingly strange stuff.

But the strange stuff need not be several stories tall to catch our eye. And sometimes it’s more creepy than pleasing.

Since the Rillito River has not held any substantial amount of water in more than a year, eerie things keep piling up in the riverbed.

Like graves.

We’re guessing Mia was some kind of cat or small person who has miraculously not been dug up by coyotes. Mia’s is not the only gravesite in the riverbed, as a larger grave marked only by a cross but no headstone sits near the entrance to one of the paths. A man was once near it looking sad. There are also things that could be graves but we’re really not sure.

This fine stick hut, which was in better shape but soon repaired after a windstorm, appears to house some kind of dead thing. Either that or it could be a ritualistic shack of some sort, although you’d have to sit pretty low to perform any rituals as the roof is sloped and only about 2 feet high. Eerily, the hut appeared around the same time a homeless person’s camp disappeared.

This cozy camp, which has now become defunct, was in the riverbed for as long as two years. Sometimes there would be a lump shaped like a person nestled inside the sleeping bag while at other times it stood vacant. Graham cracker boxes and tin cans were regularly found strewn near the campsite. Then one day it was simply gone. No more sleeping bag, no more shopping cart and the open area was covered in thick ugly brush as if no one had ever been there.

This giant log structure is another puzzle. Also known as the Child Crusher, the structure stands more than 10 feet tall and has fallen apart at least once. The following day it was back in place. The only thing holding it up appears to be hope. My dogs get admonished when they carouse beneath it, as it could be some kind of trap that is just waiting to nab it’s next meal.

Other Rillito riverbed mysteries include small rock formations. Some feature rocks teetering atop each other in ways that defy gravity, others resemble mini Stonehenges, and still others look like fire pits where goats or small children could be sacrificed. We just hope none of the goats or children was named Mia.

ADDENDUM:

This stretch of the Rillito riverbed, between Dodge Boulevard and Swan Road, is also where the homeless dog named River hangs out. River now has a blog in her honor to keep folks posted on the progress of the big-hearted volunteers who are trying to save her. Check out the blog at http://rescuingriver.blogspot.com/

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What do you think?

Any theories on the Child Crusher or other Rillito riverbed objects?

Have you seen eerie or mysterious things around town?

Do you ever hide out overnight to help clear up the mystery?

Chupacabra sighting in Tucson and the beauty of an open mind

Odd Pueblo: Strange things in the Rillito riverbed

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