The jackalope is a legendary creature of North American folklore, typically depicted as a jackrabbit adorned with the antlers of an antelope or deer. This myth emerged from a mix of artistic tradition and frontier humor, most famously solidified by a 1932 taxidermy hoax in Douglas, Wyoming, created by Douglas Herrick. While the creature is purely mythical, the legend finds a biological parallel in rabbits infected with the Shope papillomavirus, which causes horn-like growths. This is a folk legend, not a documented case.
The Tall Tale of the Horned Hare of the Plains
In the vast, wind-swept landscapes of the American West, travelers often encountered stories that defied the logical boundaries of nature. The jackalope is perhaps the most famous of these, a creature described as a lightning-fast jackrabbit sporting the formidable, branching antlers of an antelope. Local lore in Douglas, Wyoming, suggests that these beasts are so elusive that they can only be caught by leaving a flask of whiskey out at night, rendering them lethargic enough to be captured. As noted by the Wikipedia entry for the jackalope, the name itself is a clever portmanteau, blending the jackrabbit with the pronghorn antelope. Despite the scientific impossibility of a lagomorph evolving antlers, the legend has persisted as a testament to the American penchant for blending genuine wilderness wonder with a deep-seated love for the tall tale. It serves as a rite of passage for tourists, who might spot the famous taxidermic mounts lining the walls of roadside diners and general stores across the region, cementing its status as an icon of the high desert.
Renaissance Origins and Early Depictions of Horned Rabbits
The jackalope did not emerge in a vacuum, nor did it begin in the dusty shops of the early 20th century. Centuries before the American West embraced the creature, European artists were already fascinated by the concept of the horned hare. A 1575 artwork by Joris Hoefnagel features a hare that appears to have singular, horn-like protrusions, accompanied by an enigmatic Latin inscription. As the National Gallery of Art notes, the inscription translates roughly to, A hare thyself, and goest in quest of game, suggesting that the image was intended to be ironic or whimsical rather than a literal zoological study. These early artistic depictions provided the cultural soil in which the American myth would eventually take root, proving that the human imagination has long been captivated by the idea of beasts that defy standard biological classification. The persistence of the image from 16th-century parchment to 20th-century taxidermy shops speaks to a universal, enduring fascination with the hybrid creature.
The 1932 Taxidermy Stunt in Douglas Wyoming
While the concept had deep roots in European art, the modern American incarnation of the jackalope owes its existence to the creativity of the Herrick brothers. According to a 2014 Wired article, the first confirmed jackalope specimen was secured by Douglas Herrick in 1932. As the story goes, Herrick found a rabbit carcass in his shop in Douglas, Wyoming, and in a moment of inspired humor, he attached the discarded antlers of a deer to the head of the animal. The resulting mount was so convincing and bizarre that it quickly became a local sensation. What began as a private joke among brothers transformed into a business opportunity, as the taxidermy mounts became highly sought-after souvenirs. By popularizing the modern American jackalope in 1932, Douglas Herrick inadvertently created a symbol that would come to define the identity of the town, ensuring that visitors to Douglas would forever associate the community with this impossible, antlered hare.
Biological Truths Behind the Mythic Horned Appearances
While the jackalope is an artificial creation of taxidermy, the inspiration for such myths likely originated from real biological phenomena observed in the wild. Scientific research into the Shope papillomavirus has provided a chillingly accurate explanation for sightings of horned rabbits. According to an abstract from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, rabbit papillomatosis is a condition caused by a filtrable virus that results in the growth of keratinous, horn-like masses on the skin of wild cottontail rabbits. These growths can be extensive, sometimes protruding from the head or face in a way that mimics the appearance of antlers to a casual observer. This virus is transmissible between both wild and domestic rabbits, providing a natural mechanism that would have certainly puzzled hunters and travelers in centuries past. By grounding the myth in the reality of viral infection, researchers have bridged the gap between folklore and biology, showing how a natural anomaly can be elevated into a supernatural creature through the lens of human storytelling.
Attempts to Grant the Jackalope Official Legislative Status
The cultural impact of the jackalope eventually reached the hallowed halls of government, leading to one of the most unique legislative debates in the history of the Equality State. In 2004, the Wyoming Legislature considered House Bill 0004, which aimed to officially designate the jackalope as the state’s official mythical creature. The bill, which moved through the legislative process during the winter of 2004 and into early 2005, sought to give formal recognition to the creature that had brought so much notoriety to the state. However, as official records from the Wyoming Legislature demonstrate, the bill’s journey was far from certain. Following significant discussion and deliberation, the measure was ultimately indefinitely postponed in the Senate on March 2, 2005. While the attempt failed to pass into law, the very fact that such a bill was proposed highlights the deep, institutional respect the state of Wyoming maintains for its most famous piece of folklore. It marks the jackalope not just as a roadside attraction, but as a genuine, if unofficial, emblem of the Wyoming identity.
Why This Myth Remains Relevant in Modern Culture
The jackalope persists because it fulfills a vital social function, bridging the gap between the mundane and the magical in an age where the unknown is increasingly mapped and cataloged. It is a symbol of the American West’s self-awareness—a wink at the visitor who expects a serious history but finds a stuffed rabbit with deer horns instead. By allowing the legend to live on, the people of the West maintain a connection to a time when the wilderness was full of monsters and mysteries. Whether it is understood as a biological fluke or a deliberate, humorous fabrication, the jackalope remains a perfect example of how human beings curate their environment to make it more interesting, more strange, and more representative of the local character. It exists in that comfortable space between truth and fiction, where the story is always more important than the science, and the myth serves as a reminder to never take the natural world—or our attempts to define it—too seriously.