A recent report of sheep taken from a Midland County ranch makes me wonder if the ever-popular Chupacabra has made its way to West Texas. For some of you who are unfamiliar with the legendary Chupacabra (pronounced chew-pah-khab-rah), it's a scaled, winged and fanged alien/beast that reportedly sucks the blood out of livestock.

Its name translated in English means "the goat sucker." Its origin has been traced to South American farmers, who blame the creature for sabotaging their livestock. The lore made its way to Puerto Rico, Florida and even the Rio Grande Valley. I figured it'd only be a matter of time before this nuisance followed me to Midland.

When I was in South Texas, the Chupacabra would make his way into the police reports at least once a month. The scenario always involved a rural farmer who'd call authorities after finding dead animals on his property - all of which sustained two puncture wounds to the neck.

Then, the complainant would come to our newspaper with Polaroid pictures of his decaying animals. My assignment would come soon after: I'd have to ask a serious lawman to explain how the alien killed an entire herd of cows and if charges were to be filed. I could just see the docket: Case No. 0001, the People vs. Goat sucker; charges: criminal mischief, cruelty to animals and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Instead of making him laugh, the officer would throw me out of his office, telling me that I wasted his time with such absurd tales. Here in the basin, the closest thing I've seen to the goat sucker is a news reporter who did a live shot from a pet cemetery in West Odessa.