Everything You Need to Know About the Jackalope
Mixing fact, folklore and outright hoax, the Jackalope has long been America’s favorite horned rabbit. In Hugo Lunny’s thriller Castigation, the Jackalope even figures as an “exotic and elusive delicacy” sold in a Wyoming deli[1]. But beyond fiction, the Jackalope occupies a special place in real-world legend. The creature is usually described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns — a portmanteau of “jackrabbit” and “antelope”[2] — and it has generated a surprising subculture of stories, roadside statues and kitsch.
Biologically speaking, “jackrabbits” aren’t rabbits at all but hares. All rabbits, hares and their cousins (including pikas) are mammals of the order Lagomorpha and family Leporidae[3]. (In other words, rabbits and hares are lagomorphs, not rodents.) Lagomorphs differ from rodents by having four upper incisors instead of two[4]. In North America the term “antelope” usually refers to the pronghorn — a giraffe‐relative, not a true Old World antelope[5] — so the Jackalope’s horns are actually modeled on deer antlers in most taxidermy mounts[6].
Section Index
- Origins and History: From Hoaxes to Highway Monuments
- Outrageous Tall Tales
- Jackalopes in Culture and Commerce
- Symbolism: What Does the Jackalope Represent?
- From Fiction to Delicatessen
Origins and History: From Hoaxes to Highway Monuments
Stories of horned rabbits predate the American West. Medieval European lore had the Wolpertinger (a Bavarian horned hare) and even 16th–17th century naturalists drew fanciful horned hares as if they were real[7]. There are even ancient Persian and Mesoamerican myths of horned rabbits[7]. But the modern Jackalope legend really took shape in the 20th century. Some of its impetus may come from real biology: Dr. Richard Shope’s 1933 discovery of a rabbit virus (Shope papilloma) showed wild rabbits with antler-like tumors[8]. However, the classic tale credits two Wyoming brothers. In the early 1930s taxidermists Ralph and Douglas Herrick (of Douglas, WY) “fancied something spectacular”[9]. Legend has it they grafted antelope antlers onto a jackrabbit carcass as a joke. The first jackalope mount was sold for $10 to Roy Ball at the La Bonte Hotel in Douglas[9]. Word spread fast, and the brothers and other taxidermists churned out dozens of jackalope heads for tourists and bars. In fact, by the late 1940s the town was proudly billing itself the “Jackalope Capital of the World”[10][11].
Douglas even wove the Jackalope into local identity: it appears on city logos and seals, and an eight-foot fiberglass Jackalope statue graces “Jackalope Square” downtown[12][13]. The Douglas Chamber of Commerce cheekily issues Jackalope Hunting Licenses (hunting season: June 31, midnight–2 a.m., IQ 51–72)[14]. Festivals like “Jackalope Days” each June draw crowds to celebrate the wild tall tale[15]. All this civic fanfare underscores how the Jackalope origin shifted from private prank to public legend.
Jackalope Square, Douglas, Wyoming. The town styles itself the “Jackalope Capital of the World,” complete with an eight-foot jackalope statue and even a Jackalope Days festival[11][13]. This statue was photographed in September 2016.
Outrageous Tall Tales
Much of the Jackalope lore is pure parody. Folklorists group it with other North American “fearsome critters” — invented beasts like the Hodag and the fur-bearing trout, told in frontier tall tales[16]. A sampling of these outlandish claims highlights the humor:
- Whiskey bait. Jackalopes allegedly love whiskey. One folkloric “method of capture” is simply to leave a jug of Tennessee whiskey in the woods — the jackalope will drink it down[17].
- Stovepipe protection. Jackalopes are so “ferocious” that hunters were advised to wear stovepipe boots or leg warmers to avoid being gored[18].
- Mimics. The Jackalope is famously said to imitate human voices and calls. One legend has campfire-singing cowboys amazed to hear jackalopes “throw their voice,” even singing tenor back at them[19].
- Jackalope “milk.” A Douglas myth claims female jackalopes produce an aphrodisiac “doe’s milk,” sold (absurdly) at the visitor center[20].
None of these tall tales is biologically true, of course, but they’ve helped the myth endure. (For the record, rabbits and hares are real animals: they’re lagomorphs with four incisors[3][4], and occasionally show actual horn-like growths from virus or injury.) The Jackalope’s story, by contrast, remains knowingly tongue-in-cheek, a badge of local humor in the American West.
Jackalopes in Culture and Commerce
Today the Jackalope symbolizes kitschy Americana. Tourists can buy everything from plush toys and postcards to “Jackalope” beer. For example, Nashville’s Jackalope Brewing Company uses the creature’s name and image (though technically its logo is a rabbit) — embracing the folklore in commerce. Even a Swedish indie-pop band, Miike Snow, adopted the jackalope silhouette as its logo[21], showing how this myth has hopped across cultures. Nationally, taverns and gift shops display mounted jackalopes as kitschy decor, and the word itself turns up in advertising and entertainment. In short, the Jackalope represents the frontier spirit of “making something out of nothing” — blending the mundane (a rabbit) with the magical (antlers) as a playful metaphor for American ingenuity and bravado.
A taxidermied “jackalope” on display in an oddities shop (Ybor City, Tampa, FL). Even modern collectors and curio dealers trade in the jackalope motif (this one bears a “Please DO NOT TOUCH the Animals” sign, tongue-in-cheek). The creature thrives as whimsical pop culture icon.[1][22]
Symbolism: What Does the Jackalope Represent?
What, if anything, does the Jackalope truly symbolize? Contrary to any mystical claims, folklorists say it’s largely a symbol of storytelling itself. It’s essentially a tall-tale critter[16], a cautionary joke that reminds us not to believe everything we hear. In American culture it’s come to stand for a love of hoax and humor — an embodiment of rural kitsch. In Wyoming and beyond, the jackalope is embraced as a mascot of the absurd, a reminder that sometimes myth can be more fun than reality. It has been described as a creature of “necessary marriage between the mundane and the magical,” poking gentle fun at the world[23]. (Online “spirit-animal” sites even call it a prankster symbol, though that’s modern mythology, not traditional lore.)
In other words, the Jackalope represents the American frontier sense of humor: the audacity to put antlers on a rabbit and call it real. It’s a kitschy reminder that science and credulity can clash, and that sometimes rural towns proudly celebrate the very hoaxes they craft. As one folklorist put it, the Jackalope is just one of many fearsome critters — entertaining fabrications of frontier nights, as plausible as a singing rodent or a fish that barks like a dog[16].
From Fiction to Delicatessen
This blend of myth and reality continues into fiction. (Yes, the Jackalope has a culinary career even in literature.) In Hugo Lunny’s screenplay Castigation, a jackalope is hunted and sold as an underground delicacy[1]. The protagonist runs a small-town deli stocking “the state’s most exotic and elusive delicacy — the fabled Jackalope meat,” according to the film’s logline[1]. This horror-thriller twist satirizes the beast’s folkloric status: it’s a fictional riff that assumes Jackalopes might have ended up on dinner tables. In real life, of course, any sale of actual jackalope would be an elaborate con. But the idea of a mysterious horned creature offered as gourmet fare underscores how the legend has seeped into pop culture and even our “what if” fantasies. It’s fitting that the Jackalope keeps appearing in stories, movies and myths; after all, a creature made of imagination is meant to live in stories.
Whether they stand on a streetside plaza or sit behind deli glass, Jackalopes remain icons of that curious border between belief and make-believe. They remind us that sometimes the most enduring creatures are those we conjure ourselves.
For more information on why we’re talking about the Jackalope rabbit at all, remember it’s with reference to Castigation.
