Forest Monster Nº 2 – O Chupa-Cabras

Sorry for the monster occupy the almost entire image, but it's even enormous! xP

   What's it?

   A reptilian beast that has a pouch on its chin to suck its victim

   Where it can be found?

   West's newly planted groves of eucalypts

   Its alimentation:

   Goats... And also bitches and sons of a bitch! xxD

   There was a day when an important company in the forestry sector waved with over € 50000000 to invest in the national economy. Sometime after, the Government revoked the previous legislation that limiting the eucalypts plantations (from date of 1st half of the 20th century): before, new forest plantations that had completed continuous areas with more than 50 ha were subject to prior authorization from the forest authority, and below it, were subject to approval of municipalities, under a decree-law on amendments in the relief and vegetal coverage, and that these plantations could not be at x m of infrastructures and farmlands, depending on the type of infrastructure and of practiced agriculture, respectively; now, under the law, the planting of new forests or replanting of degraded, cut or burned areas is subject to an authorization when the occupied area exceeds 2 ha, and below this limit, just only a prior notification, and that the distance of these plantations to infrastructures and farmlands can be much smaller – in short, eucalypt is currently regarded as a normal forest specie. There are even amazing coincidences, there aren't?! >:P

   Ever since, almost all forest plantations and replantations have been eucalypts, and West (region famous by Rocha Pear, a internationally celebre variety of pear, which is pretty toothsome, and I recommend to eat; but attention to your teeth, because this variety of pear to do name justice* [lol]!) is far from being the exception, moreover, is there that are the my most reliable reports of what is being done with the new legislation on eucalypts plantations: pine forests are cut in advance to be planted groves of eucalypts after (you have to understand: today is safer and more profitable for forest owners bet on eucalypt than in maritime pine [Pinus pinaster], because: 1) the maritime pine forests are being violently buffeted by wildfires and forest pests, among which stand pine wood nematode [Bursaphelenchus xylophilus] and pine processionary [Thaumetopoea pityocampa], and 2) the eucalypt cutting age is 10 years, while the maritime pine cutting age is 40 years – and so much bad things can happen to a maritime pine forest in 4 decades, to the consternation of forest owners!), are being made a great soil mobilizing, contractors are as sniffer dogs in search of groves of eucalypts for their owners to sell the eucalypts to be cut (the most incredible thing about this is that there have been offers for eucalypts with... 5-year-old! Seriously!), areas that once were mosaics of pasture zones, vines, groves of eucalypts and pine forests are now continuous groves of eucalypts, etc. :\

   Attention, no one here is demonizing eucalypt! As a matter of fact, this tree type gives us many useful things for our day-to-day: pulpwood to make paper pulp, oil to make pharmaceutical, antiseptic, repellent, flavouring, fragrance and industrial products, nectar (of some species of eucalypts) to produce high-quality monofloral honey, wood to make naval means of transport and didgeridoos (a traditional Australian musical instrument [come on, the musical art, whatever it is, is important, nor if only to relax!]), among other things. The problem in this case is be being made a massive «eucalyptization», and the nefarious consequences thereof are already visible in the West: the great soil mobilizing, often on steep slopes, is resulting in a large soil erosion, the continuous groves of eucalypts have very little biodiversity, they mischaracterize the natural landscape (landscape more monotonous), the nearby water reservoirs suffer a water loss, etc... However, the height of hassle of many locals are in the form of a sinister creature that lurks in the newly installed controversial plantations... >:P

   It's O Chupa-Cabras. It have serpentine body with 2 dam in length (I told you it was enormous!), crocodile head, bright green bottom of the body, light brown top of the body to blend with the leaf litter of the woods, yellow green eyes the size of small plates, a single row of dark green dorsal scales from the tail tip to almost to the top of the head, a pouch in the mouth as pelicans have in the beak, big red tongue and white (with a little gray) rectangular teeth. It appeared in the West, who knows from where, when the eucalypts began to be planted massively there. Ever since, it spends almost every day resting in a more secluded part and with more thicker leaf litter of grove of eucalypts, moving away thereout to hunt when hungry. >:)

   The goat livestock farmers of the region don't like it because it attacks goats, its favorite food! As if not enough goats have less and less pasture to feed (they even have good mouth, but, apparently, they think the eucalypt leaves indigestible), now they have a ruthless predator that don't kill them, but grinds them... Or better, sucks them! A few times it picks up a goat that walk distractedly by grove of eucalypts, but most of the times it goes and meets its preys. This unusual creature moves closer to a pasture zone where is a herd of goats; arrived there, it's camouflaged in the leaf litter of grove of eucalypts through the color of the top part of its body, waiting for the opportune moment to attack – it's very patient, can wait hours and hours. Once that moment comes (examples: when a goat passes by distractedly near it, or has his back), it creeps fast (believe me, it's very fast!) to catch its victim! It grabs it with tongue, collect it for mouth with help of teeth and put it in its pouch (which can contain up to an adult human). And then, it sucks it like a menthol candy, without swallowing it (its digestive tract is too narrow to pass solid food), for 20 to 30 min! Even seriously! No use for victim try to leave the torture of suck, because the inside of the pounch is resistant to anything. In the end, it spits it as the core of an olive, and he goes to his retreat with hunger sated, leaving the unfortunate victim alive, but covered in drool (lol!)... and almost always with sequels for the rest of life: the sucked goats get very nervous and jumpy, they stop producing milk, their meat is inedible and their leather is impossible to be worked for the clothing confection – a huge loss to the goat farmers, who do not know what to do to stop this diabolical creature! The only way to avoid its predation is to close at night the goats in a stable or barn, but unfortunately not all farmers, because they can not, or stubbornness (some farmers think a challenge to brake O Chupa-Cabras, nor that lose all the goats!), not can do it, always having to leave the goats at mercy; traps have been made to catch it, but it's very clever and avoided them all; no use attack it, not even with lead – its skin is tough like armor, and nothing makes dint in it (its only weak points are eyes and the inside of the mouth, but these are well sealed while he feeds). Finally, it seems, unless the continuous groves of eucalypts are withdrawn, only when all West goats are treated as chewing gum by this unstoppable creature (it only attacks a victim once, it seems that it doesn't like the taste of life forms that he soaked up [lol]!) is that it will go away to other places in search of new goats to feed! >:P

O Chupa-Cabras can be here hidden, about catch its victim... >B|

   But not all bad news! Do you think it only feeds on goats? You are wrong! It also sucks bitches and sons of a bitch! And woe unto people who are bad news who have the folly, deliberate or not, to go through a place where is this argus-eyed creature, if it's hungry – they are sucked ruthlessly, such as goats! It's unbelievable and inexplicable, but it gets to know if a person is mean or not! And look who were not a few people who have had the «privilege» of be in the mouth of this gluttonous creature! Such as goats, the sucked people are forever traumatized (besides of covered in drool [lol!]): they are madly grounded, and many flee so far away from the region, with the idea of never to return there! Many people of bad character, who has been attacked or has not yet been attacked, is closed for days indoors (already happened this intrepid creature was attacking inside houses whose doors were open [he is capable of detecting a bastard very afar]!), but, as they say here «who has ass has fear», only bitches and sons of a bitch are walking restless, the people of good character can be tranquil – and look who this people know it very well! A positive curiosity: crime in the West declined since this cool creature has taken up residence there! As you see, O Chupa-Cabras is also a very useful creature to society (a little off-topic: I believe, although they, in one way or another, can put us I believe, although they, in one way or another, put us in trouble, all Forest Monsters have some benefit for us humans, if only to tell us that something is wrong – we still have to understand them...)! >;-D

   I know I can be being blasphemous, but I, partly, wish that is made the «eucalyptization»... Or better, a «eucalyptization» from West to Parliament and to headquarter of such forestry company mentioned in the first paragraph (whose prime raw material for the production of pulp, fine printing and writing paper [its industrial activity] is... Eucalypt! Have you seen?! More a amazing coincidence!!) – thus, there would be a eucalypts corridor for O Chupa-Cabras to go to those 2 places, where it will find food in abundance ... and are not goats (lol)! >B-P

   Tips and precautions:

   No need to be afraid: despite its monstrous aspect, O Chupa-Cabras is a harmless, peaceful and quiet Forest Monster. You can approach it, and photograph it, without problem... Unless you have the smell of a goat, you have something worn goat skin that has never been attacked by it, or you are bitches/sons of a bitch who never were inside its mouth – then, you prepare to be sucked like a lollipop and then be thrown away as chewing tobacco (lol)! 3:)

* Out of curiosity: the Rocha Pear is so named because «Rocha» is the surname of owner of 1st pear tree of that variety, obtained by casual seed in the 1st half of the 19th century; but «Rocha» is also «Rock» in Portuguese! xP