Is this mysterious creature a fabled chupacabra, or just a follicly challenged raccoon?
The bald, grey-skinned creature was shot and killed in Lebanon Junction, Kentucky, after it emerged from woodland into the garden of a home.
But the animal, which has large ears, whiskers and a long tail, has sparked intense debate on the internet, with some claiming it is one of the mythical chupacabras.
Stories of the blood-sucking creature began circulating in Puerto Rico 15 years ago and since then tales of the havoc it causes have swept from Chile through Mexico and into southern U.S. states.
Mark Cothren shot the animal as it walked into his front yard because he did not recognise it.
He told Wave3.com: 'I was like "every animal has hair, especially this time of year!".
'What puzzled me is how something like that could survive through a winter with no hair.
'Everybody is getting very curious, you know. The phone is ringing off the hook. It's kind of a mystery right now.'
The animal was the size of a house cat, but some people have speculated it could even be a legendary chupacabra.
The chupacabra - also known as the 'goat sucker' - is believed to kill goats and suck their blood.
People have claimed to have seen it in South America, Mexico, Puerto Rico and even Texas and Oklahoma.
Sam Clites, from Louisville Zoo, said he would have to see the animal in person to determine what species it was. He said he thought it was a raccoon or dog.
'It's hard to just what an animal is from just a photograph. This is an animal that's native to our area, most likely that is suffering from some type of disease,' he added.
He added that many animals with severe disease lost fur and could appear unrecognisable as a result.
Mr Cothren said he was keeping the animal so he could hand it over to the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources for analysis.
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