“The story of Chupacabra is pretty common in Mexican culture–my parents and friends and all would joke about it or tell stories about it. The name means “Goat Sucker,” and it’s like a cryptid kinda like Bigfoot, that sucks the blood out of farm animals, so a lot of farmers kinda are in on this legend too. Basically what would happen is that if a farmer would go to sleep and awaken to see a dead animal with two teeth marks at its side, it would know that the Chupcabra killed that animal. And so my parents would sometimes joke, “Oh, don’t stay out too late because otherwise the Chupacabra will come and get you” so there was an element of fear too.
I didn’t hear about this too much as a serious story, but the legend is mostly like in northern Mexico or the southern USA, since I guess there’s a lot more agriculture and farmers there. Although, one day I was watching a TV channel and I heard that one of the neighboring towns, Cuero, Texas, had a Chupacabra sighting, and they said they found part of the head (of a kinda wolf-like creature) that was found outside her home.”

Context:

This was an in-person interview with a friend of mine who told me about his experiences with this legend from his culture. The text was taken from and recorded during our conversation.

Interpretation:
While descriptions of the Chupacabra vary, the legend almost serves as a cultural manifestation of the fear of the unknown/supernatural. It can be a way to make younger ones obedient by instilling fear, and taps into the similar types of cryptid legends like Bigfoot in the American West.