Here's a photograph that was E-Mailed to me yesterday, showing someone who shot an unidentified creature with a pellet gun a week ago. Here's what he had to say about the photograph:

"The photo I have sent you is of a large creature, almost 3 feet long, that resembles an opossum or large rat with canine teeth.  The critter was shot by me, in the photo, with a pelat gun.  I showed the photo to some of my friends from Mexico,  who claim it's a chupacabras because of the mouth.  It was taken only about a week ago.  I have no explanation for what I shot."



All comments and poll votes welcome.

and thanks to Liebau for sending this picture in to us.

Now do we really care what the shooter looks like? Why couldn't he send a close up of the animal? Of course, if he did that than there would be no debate as to what is is. I vote for rat/opossum.

Homer

"Now do we really care what the shooter looks like?"

It seems the hunters of the world can't win.  On one hand, we want a person in the shot in order to compare relative size with, and on the other hand, we don't want to see what they look like.  :-/

I agree however that another photo close up would be more useful.

Comparing relative size with a close up is rather easy. By putting something in the picture like a shoe, can, bottle, or the shooters hands as he holds the critter would be helpful. But then...where would the mystery be in that... :o

[blue]What I think is a truly unexplained phenomenon is why some people seem unable to restrain themselves when they have a gun in their hands.

'What's that?'
....ummm... dunno.....
BLAM!!
>:(
[/blue]

I know what you mean Loonboy. I would rather try to befriend God's cute little furry animals. Then, when I have the little guys complete trust...BLAM!...that's when I blow it's head off

Now that's restraint...

Opossum gets my vote  :sq

"I have no explanation for what I shot."  WHAT??!!!
What does this kid do, blast away all day at anything that moves?
Whilst looking through the posts, I came across this one.  What can I say?!!

What a little redneck.  Is he going to be the next classroom/serial killer?

He obviously didn't care what it was because he shot it.  Why do we have to kill first and ask questions later?  Whatever it is/was it's now dead

Sorry about the aggression, but this kind of thing really makes my blood boil.

:si
How can we ask about magic in one forum and then condone this kid's actions in another?  I'm with Gizzie on this one.  Definately entente cordiale (or not so cordiale!)

Sad and sickened by what happened to the obvious opossum!  :s5

By the way, where is this kid from?

NessyK

 Seems to me that Liebau is well on his way to becoming an international 'big game' hunter, specializing in hunting down the most elusive cryptological creatures known to man. I fear for the safety of Bigfoot, India's 'monkey man', and yes, even dear old 'Nessie'. However, it would seem to me we are dealing with someone with an overactive imagination, yet has little or no understanding of 'reality'. Here are just a few problems I have with his claim;

 Just about all eye witness accounts of the mythical 'chupacabra' describe the creature as something similar to a dog in appearance, and those are from milder accounts. Other, more elaborate descriptions, claim the creature to be a cross between a gray 'alien' and a two legged lizard, which stands anywhere between 4 to 5 feet tall!  If you are interested, this is a link that gives quite a bit more information HERE. Mexico favors the wild dog version, so I don't know why Liebau's friends think his animal looks anything like a 'chupacabra'. Perhaps the picture he showed them is even more innocuous than the one we are seeing.

 The other point I wanted to make was that I don't believe Liebau could have killed an opossum with his pellet gun, unless it was already near death (although the picture isn't very clear, the animal looks as if it had been savaged by something, possibly a dog?). Normally pellet guns aren't very powerful, delivering a force of 2-300 fps, which is sufficient enough to harm small birds and/or gophers, but not an adult opossum.  There are high end and extremely expensive air guns available that can deliver a pellet at roughly the same force as a 22 cal bullet, but I doubt (or hope, anyway) that is a weapon Liebau has access to.

Magikman  :sg

Agreed, a typical pellet gun simply does not have the capacity to emit force necessary to kill a possum that is not near death. As you mentioned, the person in question most likely did not have access to high powered pellet weapons. Therefore... if he couldn't have killed it... how is it there? Also, one big question I have... given the hunter's background, isn't it likely that he would recognize a possum when he sees one, and thus forth not be claiming it to be an unknown? Maybe it is a very large rat... we all heard the story about my brother's friend who got a sewer rat in Mexico city...  :s4

-Test Bear

Bear,

  What part of this explanation are you having difficulty with? "(although the picture isn't very clear, the animal looks as if it had been savaged by something, possibly a dog?)."

  Its very possible he just happened upon the animal's carcass, or if it was still alive and badly hurt, shot the opossum dead to put it out of its misery. Any number of things could have caused the animals death. The point I was making was that it is very unlikely that Liebau had killed a healthy, adult opossum. The poor picture quality makes it difficult to determine how the animal died, but again, the animal does appear to have been roughed up considerably. Opossum's, although quite skittish, are a relatively slow moving animal and are almost defenseless against predators.

 "Also, one big question I have... given the hunter's background, isn't it likely that he would recognize a possum when he sees one, and thus forth not be claiming it to be an unknown?'  The 'boy' in the picture looks to be all of 14 years old, exactly what kind of 'background' is this supposed 'hunter' going to have? Still, of course he knows its an opossum, and the 'story' he has concocted is a result of his overactive imagination and his childish desire for attention. Is that so hard to believe? Mature adults are guilty of the same deception, only much more pathetic and unforgiving because they should know better, don't you think? Speaking of which, I'm rather curious as to who took the proud 'hunters' picture, aren't you?

Magikman  :sg

Why, his "proud" dad of course!  It's probably entitled "That's ma boy"!

Ma probably baked her "boys" their favourite cookies and said something like " I'm proud of you son.  If you don't grow more and more like your Pa everyday"and Sis probably said something like "Aw, Chuck for a kid brother, you ain't bad.  You done good Chuckie" and Sis's boyfriend, Taylor, probably ruffled lil ol' Chuckie's hair and said "Neat, kid". And Chuckie said "Aw shucks, it weren't nothing, just some lil ol critter that I done shot with mah heah gun"

And then they all went to Church, it being Sunday.

The only 2 things missing in the photo are the American flag and the "Dawg" that goes everywhere with Chuckie - even sits outside school waiting for him.

At the end of a perfect day, after having sung God Bless America and read a chapter from the Bible over supper, Pa cleaned his guns, Ma picked up her sewing, Sis was out with Taylor, Chuckie climbed the stairs with "Dawg", got into bed and though about the next critter he was gonna blast the very next day. He prayed that God would send him a big one. And the light went out in Redneck country.

Haven't we all read the book, seen the film?  etc - I can even remember the words!!

I suppose that my only question boils down to this; are they really completely ignorant as to the fact that kiddie is holding an opposum, or are they just attemptig to pull one over on everyone else (Hey Bobby, wouldn't it be funny if we said this here opposum weren't this here opposum) ? I find it difficult to think that, seeing from the photgraph it can be inferred that they live and are settled in that area, that they woul not recognize even a wounded opposum.... hey, who DID take the photograh... my vote is on alien HQ, the kid looks innocent but he was actually a bounty hunter  :s8

:s2  I worry about Gizzie .  :s04  ;D

Tommy  :su

Such a vivid description! It seems at though the poor bloke speaks of personal truth... is there something he must confess... how may poor opposums met their fate in the less mature years....

:'(

Tommy

You are right to worry about me -I am so glad someone has finally got the hidden message in the Day in the Life of A Redneck I posted the other day.
Test Bear - How dare you call me a man - even worse, a "bloke"   I'm a girl, 100% and the thought that you could think me masculine has just put me back into enforced self hugging for 40 days - managed to get a fag break of 15 mins so I'm typing this to say Save me from the Medical experiments, pendulum and some revolting snake who keeps trying to get me to eat an apple!!

Ps I've met lots of you where I am, but don't save the others;  They really do  need help

to me it looks like a really dirty dog :si

Yeah, but what about the dead creature? :)

:s2  funny  :s2

:se lol  :se

The picture looks like any wild animal maybe a racoon?

Uh... anyone notice that those are kiwi's growing in the background? They don't grow kiwi in Mexico... not to mention that the kid isn't Mexican. Opossom obviously... sheesh.

1) It had crossed my mind that they were growing giant sticks, but I figured that, seeing as the picture quality is horrid and you can't discern details, I'd leave it alone. I am amazed that you can find the kiwi.

2) Not all people in Mexicos are Mexicans.

3) Gizzie, I apologize for calling you a man. I know that this is much later, but I just got back and haven't really seen this thread since I left. Somehow I missed the gender picture.

So what does that tell you? the picture is to blurry to show anything, for all i know it could be a rat or mabey even road kill

Great shot kid, keep up the good marksmanship.

Gizzie...I live in a very rural part of the state of Georgia, so I know lots of Rednecks.

To me it looks like a possum (I would know I see them dead on the road alot)

*goes off to go shoot small animals with a pellet gun*

Yeeha!

Forget the pellet gun, get out the .357 and the 12 gauge!

its a possum. they are scary as hell. don't mess with a possum- they have huge teeth and are very aggressive....

then they fall down and play dead.

looks like he shot a possum, which triggered it to play possum.... then he picked it up thinking it was dead and posed for this pic

its a possum. they are scary as hell. don't mess with a possum- they have huge teeth and are very aggressive....

then they fall down and play dead.

then he got his hand bitten off, by the rabid possum. yes?

its a possum heh

i saw it's a possome, i mean thoughs things are mean, and they do have pointy teethtrust me that's a possume


rememder i'm shorty!!

Hello all:

Since I don't know where this "brave young hunter" resides, I can only make an educated guess. The strange thing is that I had somewhat of a freightened reaction when I saw a similar creature in my Virginia backyard (in 1996) walking on top of my fence! Being originally from N.Y., I'm not unaccoustomed to large "city/sewer" rats, but this big teethed animal, I hear, is sometimes very nasty (an can leave quite a bit of damage on a adult human).
It is a Virginia Opossum. You can tell by it's snout facial area which is always white, it's very porcupinish body hair and it's very long and fat (usually whitish) tail. I've seen sizes range from a big tabby cat up to a medium to larger sized dog. They can get very puffy round with what they eat (I saw a male/female pair that look like they swallowed watermelons whole) and can run like the dickens.
I'm not really fond of animal killing, but this one is definetly NOT one of my favorites![B]

Crazy little kid..... probably wants some attention.... BUT SHOOTING AN OPOSSUM?!?!?!?!?! WHAT WAS HE THINKING??? IT WAS PROBABLY LOOKING FOR SOME FOOD!!!!!!

What was this kid thinking.... "hey, a helpless animal...... lets shoot it for FUN!!!!!"

Whoever posted this picture, plz e-mail the kid back saying its an opossum.....

Poor kid, all he has to play with is roadkill, and his parents don't have the heart to tell him he'll be in fifth grade again.

How terrifying a low forehead kid with a wepon shooting at things indiscriminately. Shouldn't he be on the roof of a high school or a McDonalds or something?
No expert but it looks like a possum or something. I hope its relatives track him down and eat him in his sleep.

so finally u killed the poor chap....human instincts!!!
now it wont make any difference what ever it was...

BORING...... um like come on you could hardley even see the animal that kid shot! and the kid is like the one that stands out we arnt here to see a kid!!!

If hes shooting possums, he should go get a bigger gun. Pellet guns are no fun. If it were me, id have out the good old .357 mag. Add ballistic bullets and you're ready to roll. Go get another one kid

Wow, he shot a rat.

Okay, I love this one. Only because I find it funny that Farmer John and his sonny boy Billy Bob doesnt know what an opposum looks like........come on...are you serious? They are EVERYWHERE, and that crappy photo is still clear enough to tell if you ask me.
Mandy

here in North Carolina we and more often virginia (Southern) we have rats that big they are called wolf rats and they look like a grey opposum

does any one Know of any thing strange in north carolina aleins Etc Gov underground bases besides brown mtn E mail me please one_cody1@hotmail

that's an opossum, li'l buddy. they have long, pointy, carniverous teeth, and an opossum-looking body. and everything else on them kinds looks... possum-ish.

"Poor kid, all he has to play with is roadkill, and his parents don't have the heart to tell him he'll be in fifth grade again."

From the pictue The "THING" that kid is holding could be anything such as
a squrill,bunny,monkey,beaver,skunk,racoon,U get the point.Prolly just some lucky kid who happened to hit something with his pellet gun!