Prince George’s Hospital Center workers have adopted a mythical creature as their new mascot.
The creature has been spotted in the woods where smokers take breaks since the hospital banned smoking June 1, but no one knows what the animal is, so they’ve named it Prince Chupa, after chupacabra – the legendary cryptid rumored to exist in parts of the Americas and suck the blood of livestock.
“It’s a kangaroo, dog, rat mixed,” X-ray technician Joe Livermore said. “It’s got a rat tail and a head like a deer. I don’t know what it is.”
People started taking cell phone pictures of the animal and showing them around, but no one knows what it is.
“So we decided to trap it,” Livermore said.
On Thursday, Livermore lured the animal with chicken and leftover Chinese food and caged it briefly to get a closer look.
“I didn’t know what to do with him,” Livermore said. “I didn’t know what it was. People said it was a fox, a deer, a dog.”
After some close-ups, the animal was released. Those pictures haven’t led to a confirmation of species yet, either.
Those who’ve been around Prince Chupa said it’s shy, not aggressive and suspect there might be more than one.