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The jackalope, also called an anteabbit, horny bunny, aunt benny, or stagbunny, is a fictional cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope (hence the name), goat, or deer, and is usually portrayed as a rabbit with antlers.

History

The jackalope legend in the U.S. is attributed by the New York Times to Douglas Herrick (1920-2003) of Douglas, Wyoming, in 1932. Postcards showing jackalopes were also sold in the U.S. in the 1930s. Horned hares abound in European and, particularly, German and Austrian, legends as the raurackl, rasselbock and wolpertinger.

It is generally believed that the legend of the jackalope was inspired by sightings of rabbits infected with the Shope papillomavirus, a common but temporary fibromatosis which causes the growth of horn- and antler-like tumors in various places on a rabbit's head and body.. The many illustrations of horned hares shown in scholarly works by European naturalists in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries (engraved plates for the Encyclopédie Méthodique, 1789, for example), were probably also inspired by papillomavirus infected rabbits.

Legend

The jackalope is a hybrid of the pygmy-deer and a species of killer-rabbit. Reportedly, jackalopes are extremely shy unless approached. It has also been said that the jackalope can convincingly imitate any sound, including the human voice. It uses this ability to elude pursuers, chiefly by using phrases such as "There he goes! That way!". Although no jackalope has ever been captured alive, it is said that a jackalope may be caught by putting a flask of whiskey out at night. The jackalope will drink its fill of whiskey, and its intoxication will make it easier to hunt. It is also legend that the Cherokee Indians would eat these at the end of a vision quest.

Humor

In the American West, mounted heads and postcards of jackalopes are a popular item in some novelty stores. Jackalope legends are sometimes used by locals to play tricks on tourists. This joke was employed by Ronald Reagan to reporters in 1980 during a tour of his California ranch. Reagan had a rabbit head with antlers, which he referred to as a "jackalope", mounted on his wall. Reagan liked to claim that he had caught the animal himself. Reagan's jackalope hangs on the ranch's wall to this day.

Appearances in popular culture

• In furry fandom, it is not uncommon to see anthropomorphic versions of the jackalope, and it actually has its own cult following in said fanfics and artwork.

Television and film

• In an episode of Jackie Chan Adventures the mascot of a football team called "The Mighty Jackalopes" turns out to be imbued with the powers of the rabbit talisman. The mascot turns out to be a regular rabbit with fake horns on its head.
• An (unexplained) jackalope shows up in the feature-length animation "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders" (2000).
• A jackalope; officially named "Jack-Ching-Bada-Bing" after a viewer contest to come up with a name for the character, was featured in the U.S. television show America's Funniest People, where it would laugh a lot while playing mean tricks on people. It was also featured on the very first show produced for Nickelodeon, Out of Control, which was (like America's Funniest People) hosted by Dave Coulier.
• The jackalope was used in an episode of Pinky and the Brain as a key part of one of Brain's plots. The two mice disguised themselves as "mousealopes" and claimed that they were an endangered species, and that their native habitat was Pittsburgh. The city was quickly evacuated, and Brain proceeded to use its steel in one of his plots for world conquest.
• A giant female jackalope and her "normal"-size baby appeared in an episode of Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension, the Canadian-produced revamp/spinoff of the short-lived NBC fantasy series Eerie, Indiana.

• Pixar Animation Studios created a short film, "Boundin'", that features a wise, nameless jackalope as a main character. This short preceded the showing of the 2004 film The Incredibles, and was included in the latter's DVD release.
• Ron Burgundy compares himself to a jackalope in the special features section of the Anchorman DVD.

Music

• A Canadian industrial music band has named itself for the animal, using the spelling Jakalope.
• French musician Toog released the song "The Wild Jackalope" on his 2002 album Easy Toog for Beginners.
• Japanese band Shonen Knife wrote an English-language song called "Jackalope" for their album Happy Hour.
• Country musician Steve Earle recorded a song called "Creepy Jackalope Eye" with The Supersuckers on his album Sidetracks.
• There is a song by the U.S. alternative metal band Clutch called "Day of the Jackalope."
• There is a DJ named Miss Jackalope who plays at the DEF CON hacker conference and various raves. She has a quickly growing fan base called "The Jackalope Army"
• A giant jackalope graces the cover of 70's rocker Steve Forbert's album "Jackrabbit Slim".
• A jackalope smiles at you from the cover of Little Feat's, "The Last Record Album"

Games

• There is a Magic: The Gathering card called Jackalope Herd.
• A jackalope was featured on the cover of Sam & Max Hit the Road, a computer game starring a dog detective, Sam, and his rabbit sidekick, Max, whose mission is to locate an escaped sasquatch.
• A jackalope character appears in the first chapter of the computer game King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride.
• The jackalope appears as a monster in the roleplaying game Deadlands, where it has the power to cause bad luck.
• In Rampage: Total Destruction, one of the thirty monsters available is Jack the Jackalope.

Print

• The comic strip Bloom County had as one of its characters Rosebud the Basselope, who is an antlered Basset hound. At one point in the comic, Rosebud is found to have had illegitimate offspring with a jack-rabbit; thus, the "jack-a-basselope".
• In JT LeRoy's novel Sarah, "lot lizards" (prostitutes who ply their trade at truck stops) make pilgrimages to "Holy Jack's Jackalope" in the backwoods of West Virginia to avail themselves of its miraculous powers.

See also

• Skvader
• Wolpertinger
• Odessa Jackalopes

External links

• Photo gallery of Shope-infected rabbits
• For all your Jackalope needs
• Origins of the Jackalope
• The Jackalope : Museum of Hoaxes
• Jackalope fans take note: Your mythical beast really does exist! : Prof. Chuck Holliday
• The Jackalope Conspiracy
• Jackalopes!
• Jackalope : Douglas, Wyoming
• Home of Everything Jackalope

• American folklore
• Cryptids
• Fictional rabbits
• Fictional species