A Scary Looking Creature Photographed in Mission, Texas has Been Identified

The various state parks of Texas are great to visit any time of the year. In these state parks, you can hike, swim, kayak, take a canoe, camp and many other outdoor activities to get closer to nature. While taking in one of our state parks, you will most likely run into a native animal of that area. While its not recommended to interact with that native creature, taking a photo from a safe distance is welcome. That happened recently in the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in Mission, Texas. The photo is of a very mysterious and kinda spooky looking animal that has been identified since the photo was taken.

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Capturing a Photo of Texas Wildlife

Setting up a trail camera is a great way to get a photo of the natural wildlife anywhere in Texas. The wildlife is less likely to be scared away from an innocuous camera then a human being. A park visitor to the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park decided to set up one of those trail cameras and got a fantastic, albeit a bit creepy, photo of a member of the natural wildlife in that state park.

At first, it wasn't exactly known what animal this was. Some speculated it was a new species. Others thought it might have been an escaped zoo animal. Some even suggested that the animal could've been the mythical Chupacabra.

Mysterious Animal Identified

After some time, the animal was identified as an American Badger. Badgers can be aggressive is you stumble onto one but its highly unlikely as they are mostly nocturnal animals. They feed on gophers, squirrels, moles, prairie dogs, kangaroo rats, mice and other small rodents or animals.

Photos Welcome by Texas Parks and Wildlife

Still, this was a rather cool photo that was captured in the wild in a Texas state park. Texas Parks and Wildlife is always looking for photos you have taken of animals roaming around the many parks of Texas. Just be sure you do it from a safe distance as you have no idea how an animal will react to you being in their personal space.