Well , some of these things fall more into the realm of beloved folklore . Most people in rural Texas don ' t really believe in chupacabra , but we sometimes speak as if we do in a tongue in cheek way , which might be mistaken as serious by those unfamiliar with the culture itself . It ' s somewhere halfway between an inside joke and acknowledgement of a cultural icon , though the notion can sometimes get halfhumorously defaulted to in instances where incidents involving livestock don ' t have an immediately obvious explanation . People who don ' t regularly deal directly with the natural world , such as those born and raised in urban areas , can sometimes also have their imaginations run away with them . You sort of have to remind yourself that they ' re dealing with things which they have no direct experience with , while we ' re very used to them , and seeing them on television or reading about them in books isn ' t the same thing . However , sometimes that ' s a good thing when it comes to large animals which might even inadvertently injure a person who doesn ' t know what they ' re doing around them .