JACKALOPE

You'd think after over a year in business and two products featuring this iconic cryptid, I would have surely written a Creature Feature about it. But that's just the kind of unexpected, mysterious behavior emblematic of Folklord. And so, at long last: the Jackalope!

Jackalopes are your classic rabbit with antlers. In fact, the name is a portmanteau of “jackrabbit” and “antelope.” Those who believe in these little guys think that early American trappers hunted them for their fur and mounts. Even older myths tell that jackalopes were the beings who gave antelopes their antlers to begin with, bestowing upon them the magic of the wilderness. But, the legend goes deeper than that—or perhaps, much much shallower.

While legends of jackalopes persist across time and cultures, the "modern" version that has become a symbol of the west in many ways can actually be traced to two brothers. It's not often we have a cryptid with such distinct origins—the Hodag is a Midwestern analog, for those of you who've been keeping up with the Creature Feature—but for the jackalope, we have the Herrick Brothers to thank. As their legend goes, Douglas and Ralph Herrick were two taxidermist brothers living in Wyoming in the early 1930s. Nothing creepy or weird about that, and is in fact completely normal. They claimed that when a deer antler rack fell onto a taxidermy rabbit accidentally, they thought, "Huh, now that's kinda fun." They attached the antlers to the rabbit and displayed it as a novelty. But people were immediately taken with the oddity. In fact, Douglas, Wyoming hotel owner Roy Ball was so enamored, he bough the original mount for ten dollars (which, not having done math for inflation I can only assume is between twenty and a million modern dollars) to display at his establishment. It became so popular, the bothers began to make more of these little guys. Tourists would come to see them and purchase their own. Not soon after, the jackalope became the symbol of the Cowboy State and the entire American west as we know it.

However, despite the Herrick brothers claiming they invented this thing by accident, in fact, depictions of horned rabbits date back as far as 13th-Persia. Yep, Persia, about as non-West as you can get. Medieval Bavarian myths, Arabic artwork, Swedish folklore: these are just some of the places jackalopes pop up. Stories of the creature have proliferated like, well, jackrabbits. But, leave it to Americans to exploit and capitalize on it! But, even if the modern jackalope is a hoax we're all sort of in on, is that so bad? Stories like these can help bring people together, spread word of fun touristy destinations, give rise to festivals and revelry. The stories and traditions surrounding the jackalope have made it even more real than a taxidermy Frankenstein creature could ever appear to be.

See you out there.