Welcome back to another edition of the Paranormal Alphabet and on this we have now reached the letter J! And we will be talking about a cryptid from the US and Canada known as the Jackalope. It is also sometimes referred to as a Fearsome Critter. But there is a lot more belief in its existence than many of the creatures featured in Fearsome Critters, with many people throughout the years claiming to have seen one, particularly people living in rural wooded areas or the wilderness.
Featured Photo by Mbailey from Wikimedia. License.
A Jackalope is simply a creature that looks like a mixture between a jackrabbit and an antelope, therefore a large rabbit with antlers protruding from its forehead and is clearly how its name came about.
It plays a large part in North American folklore and a number of statues and taxidermy mounts, often made from an actual jackrabbit with deer antlers having been attached, can be found in public spaces and hanging within bars and restaurants within the US, particularly in the northern and mid-western states such as the Dakotas, Montana, Kansas and Wyoming.
Wyoming in particular is where the myth is believed to have reached popularity after Douglas Herrick and his brother fashioned a taxidermy mount depicting a Jackalope and selling it to a hotel in Douglas, Wyoming. In Douglas, Wyoming the city became a popular attraction for those interested in the Jackalope and the Chamber of Commerce even issue Jackalope Hunting Licenses to tourists, the licenses are of course simply a novelty and not actual hunting licenses as they are only in effect on the non-existent date of 31st June from midnight to two in the morning, known as Jackalope season. The Wyoming legislature has even considered bills to make the creature into an official mythological creature of the state.
But the actual origins of the Jackalope have many stories behind it and like much folklore around the world, its true origin is not fully known. For example, the idea of a rabbit with horns also exist in other parts of the world, such as from 13th century Persia, a piece of artwork, Plate XLVII of Animalia Qvadrvpedia et Reptilia (Terra) by Joris Hoefnagel, depicts a Hare with horns. And in Bavaria, there is a cryptid known as the Wolpertinger, from the Medieval and Rennaissance period, a rabbit depicted with antlers, but also often wings and other body parts such as a duck’s head or fangs. There were even natural history texts that have catalogued rabbits with horns/antlers as if they existed, though scientists have long since rejected their existence. So, it could also be that immigrants travelling to America and Canada brought these folklores with them, which morphed into the Jackalope.
Jackalopes have also featured in many Tall Tales in North America, which are tongue-in-cheek stories about many different kinds of supposed cryptids, but with much injected humor and silliness. Some of these Tall Tales describe the Jackalope as very dangerous and advise hunters to wear stovepipes as leggings, less they get gored by the creature. Some stories also talk of Jackalopes having the ability to mimic human voices, often in the stories this would be done to people, such as cowboys, who were sitting and talking around a campfire.
There is also a popular scientific explanation for some of the possible Jackalope sightings as well as a possible other source of its origin, relating to rabbits infected with the Shope papilloma virus, which causes horn-like tumors to sprout from a rabbit’s body.
The Jackalope has also featured in much pop culture such as books, games, TV Shows and movies, one particular TV show I can cite is the X-Files revival season 10, where a humorous episode involves the Jackalope, which was also my favorite episode of the Season 10 X-Files Revival.
So, as you can see, the Jackalope is an expansive folklore critter in North America and has fed into many stories and cultural parts of the US and Canada.
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