HOUSTON, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Animal control experts in Texas say recent alleged sightings of the mythical chupacabra could be the result of people interbreeding their pets.
The most recent reported sightings come from two men in the Houston area who claimed to have seen giant footprints in the Buffalo Bayou that they tracked, the Houston Chronicle reported Monday.. They claim to have taken cellphone photos of the creature, generally thought of as a four-legged, fur-covered mammal with spikes running down its back.
Biologists generally regard the chupacabra much like bigfoot -- a myth.
But a Houston animal control expert says increasingly, people are trying to breed multiple species to cash in on the mystery surrounding the mythical beasts, the Chronicle reported.
Houston Animal Control Officer Chris Glasser said he's heard of people trying to breed different types of dogs to create an animal resembling the direwolves on the television show "Game of Thrones." He hypothesized the same could be true of the chupacabra sightings.
"You can cross breeds," Glasser said. "But so far we haven't seen any of them out there."
