THIS is the eerie moment a mysterious creature creeps towards a woman filming it, leaving wildlife officials baffled as to what it is.

Janay Lynn, 30, said the animal gave her “the chills” when she first saw it lurking outside her home in Colorado – and little did she know, it would return.

Yet with no proof, nobody believed Janay – until she captured footage of the creature when it returned on Saturday night.

Now speculation is rife over the animal’s true identity, with some claiming this must be a legendary creature – either a “chupacabra” or a “skin-walker”.

Janay said: “I first saw it last Monday during the afternoon – it was sitting in the road in front of my house.

“It didn’t run or act afraid of me, and it turned and looked at me, and I got the chills and ran back inside.

“I told everyone about it and no one believed me.

“On Saturday night at about 8.30pm, I had just set out water and food for some stray cats that hang around, and I opened my living room curtains, and it was there.

“I went outside to try to yell and scare it off because I was worried about the cats, and that’s when I got the video of it eating the cat food.

“It made eye contact with me the whole time and was not afraid.”

Looking for answers, Janay shared her footage online.

Now the video is viral, with hundreds of people taking guesses about the creature’s identity.

Some say it’s a chupacabra – a bloodsucking cryptid from American folklore.

Others say it’s a skin-walker – a a witch with the ability to disguise itself as an animal, which the Navajo, indigenous people of the southwestern US, believe in.

What is El Chupacabra?

El Chupacabra, meaning “goat-sucker” in Spanish, is a creature from American folklore.

It is said to be a monster that attacks animals, especially goats, and drinks their blood.

The chupacabra is often described as a reptile-like creature with spines along its back or as a strange, hairless animal with sharp teeth.

Some people, especially in rural areas, small towns, parts of Latin America and the southwestern US, believe the chupacabra exists.

They say the creature is responsible for strange animal deaths where the animals have been drained of blood.

Despite a lack of scientific evidence, the legend remains popular in some communities.

But others say that people who spot ‘chupacabras’ are actually seeing animals like dogs or coyotes that have mange – a skin disease caused by mites.

Mange-infested animals have extreme hair loss, a foul odour and are more susceptible to bacterial infections.

As a result of their weakness, animals with mange sometimes hunt domestic animals.

There was also no shortage of more conventional guesses.

“Raccoon, badger, wolverine, coatimundi, bear,” said Janay.

“But I’ve looked all of those up and it doesn’t match any of those.

“That’s why it’s so scary because no one can even tell what it is.”

She continued: “It’s got a rat-like face, its eyes are very small and far apart, it has a long, pointy nose and a mouth like rats do.

“It has long legs and arms, is about two-and-a-half feet in length, and has chocolate brown fur that is thick and coarse covering its whole body.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Some locals even came down to see for themselves.

Janay said: “It was in my trash can when people arrived.

“Then it ran down the street into a drainage ditch, and we shined a light in there, and it started making a hissing-like noise.

“We got all scared and left.”

Contacted by local news station KOAA News5, Colorado wildlife officials said it was “tough to be 100% sure” of the animal’s identity.

“The use of the front paws and the size makes us think it’s a raccoon,” a spokesperson said.

“We think this animal might be a raccoon with mange.”

But Janay is not convinced.

“I get raccoons here every night, it’s definitely not a raccoon,” she said.

It comes as a mysterious creature with glowing spikes was spotted crawling along a UK beach, leaving locals horrified.

The alien-like animal was seen in November by a conservation group as it wriggled slowly along the shore in Sussex.

The strange critter was identified as a Sea Mouse which tends to live on the sea floor, but was washed up on the coast of the village Rye due to bad weather.

Another mysterious creature was seen strolling through a town park that same month.

Unsettling footage shows an unidentified creature slowly slinking on all-fours in West Virginia, and then menacingly turning its head towards the camera filming it.

The beast appears to have a dark furry coat with a long white stripe along its back and a curved tail and the head of a deer.

At first glance, the animal seemingly resembles a lemur, but experts haver dismissed this notion.