I must confess to being ever so slightly squeamish about the idea people mistook an otter for a ‘Big Cat’.

Even if they’d never seen one before (courtesy of the likes of Ring of Bright Water) their peculiar galloping rippling sinuous motion often very close to the ground should’ve put them in mind of anything except a cat (a baby Nessie or the lovechild of a snake and a rat maybe – but not a cat).

That’s the problem with language though.

I maintain when people refer to their animals being attacked by say chupacabras they don’t always mean this literally but’re alluding to certain anomalous features of the attack such as unusual wounds or characteristics suggestive of pointless slaughter.

Ditto when they speak of their animals being completely drained of blood they often really mean a normal predator would’ve left far more blood behind rather than ALL the blood’s LITERALLY gone.

‘Chupacabras’ may even be a generic way of refering to unknown supernatural agencies in general.

[Astronauts often refer to their craft as 'birds' but I don't think this means Neil and Buzz fed Apollo 11 budgie seed before they took off and the majority of vacuum cleaners aren't made by Hoover but that doesn't stop people referring to 'hoovering up'].

‘Big Cat’ as the latest catchphrase or meme therefore becomes a convenient synonym for “weirdest damn thing I ever saw!”