1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Loruren Vogelbaum. Here. Every few years, the Wyoming 3 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:16,159 Speaker 1: legislature debates a hot button issue. Should the Jackalope, a 4 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: kind of made up jack rabbit with antlers, be recognized 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: as the state's official mythical creature. In the House of 6 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: Representatives in Cheyenne passed a bill that would bestow this 7 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: honor upon the fabled beast, but it died in the 8 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: state Senate. Earlier attempts to pass the bill met the 9 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 1: same roadblock. Who knows, maybe someday the hopping horned critter 10 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: will finally jump across that legislative finish line. And if 11 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: it doesn't, at least there's still the Jackalope Days Festival, 12 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: a summer shindig held in Douglas, Wyoming, every June. The 13 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: fest gives tourists a perfect excuse to come and gawk 14 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: at all the antler lagamore statues populating the Ease downtown area. 15 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,839 Speaker 1: You couldn't miss Douglas if you tried. There's a jackalope 16 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: statue measuring thirteen feet about four meters tall, greeting motorists 17 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: at the city's exit on Interstate five Over in Mount 18 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: Rushmore Country, we find another giant jackalope, complete with the saddle, 19 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: at South Dakota's famous Wall Drug attraction. And that's to 20 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: say nothing of all the stuffed jacalope heads mounted on 21 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: walls at diners and souvenir stores across the Western United States. 22 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: One of these was given to then President Ronald Reagan 23 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: at a six campaign stop in Rapid City, South Dakota. 24 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: The All American Jackalope is considered the brainchild of taxidermist 25 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,959 Speaker 1: Douglas Herrick. He was born just north of Douglas, Wyoming, 26 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: on July eight of nineteen twenty, and he served in 27 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: the U. S. Air Force during World War Two. This 28 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: was followed by a long career as a pipe fitter 29 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: and welder. Also an avid hunter, Herrick studied taxidermy as 30 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: a teenager, so at his brother Ralph Herrick, the family 31 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: had its very own taxidermy's shop, which is where Wyoming's 32 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: favorite fictional animal got its start. Varying accounts say the 33 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,640 Speaker 1: jackalope was created sometime in nineteen thirty two or nineteen 34 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: thirty four, or nineteen thirty nine or nineteen forty. In 35 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: any case, the story goes that its birth was a 36 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: happy accident. One day, the Herrick brothers, fresh from hunt, 37 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: brought a dead jack rabbit into their shop. The carcass 38 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: was placed or possibly thrown, next to a set of 39 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: antlers on the floor. Seeing those things together gave Douglas 40 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: an idea. As Ralph told The New York Times in 41 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: nineteen seven, Doug said, let's mount it the way it is. 42 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,359 Speaker 1: Mike Harrick, Douglas's son, said in a two thousand three 43 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: exchange with the Casper Star Tribune, I think that it 44 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: was kind of a joke. A lot of taxidermists full around, 45 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: but he didn't know they would get so popular. I 46 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 1: know he didn't know. One Roy Ball of Douglas by 47 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,079 Speaker 1: Coming bought the original mounted jackalope off the Herricks for 48 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: ten dollars. After being displayed at a hotel, ball owed 49 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 1: the stuffed masterpiece was stolen in the thief was never caught. 50 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,959 Speaker 1: Yet the jackalope business was just getting started. The Herrick 51 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: family produced and sold tens of thousands of these furry 52 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: franken beasts, a fixing deer or pronghorn antler's to jack 53 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: rabbit heads. The Wall Drug became a major distributor When 54 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: Douglas died in two thousand three, The New York Times 55 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: reported that Ralph's son Jim was delivering quote four hundred 56 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: jacalopes to wall drug in South Dakota three times a year, 57 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: a small portion of his total production. Seeing mounted jackalopes 58 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: inspired people to start making up stories about live ones. 59 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: Some of those tales get pretty tall. For example, jackalopes 60 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: are said to be quite musical. They supposedly have nice 61 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: tenor voices and can be heard singing in a wilderness 62 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: from time to time. A rumor has it that the 63 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,880 Speaker 1: animals enjoy cowboy campfire songs. If you start one up, 64 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: they'll happily join the chorus from afar. Another story claims 65 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: a member of the Herrick family saw a real live 66 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:19,359 Speaker 1: jackalope around Buffalo, Wyoming in n Ralph denied this, but 67 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: these fun tales have only enhanced the jackalopes real world impact. 68 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: Since the late nineteen forties, the Chamber of Commerce in Douglas, 69 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: Wyoming has issued jackalope hunting licenses. Carriers are allowed to quote, hunt, pursue, trap, 70 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 1: or otherwise take one one pronghorn jackalope within the lawful 71 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:43,160 Speaker 1: boundaries of Converse County. Wyoming on June thirty one, between 72 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:47,600 Speaker 1: sunrise and sunset only. Failure to have this license approved 73 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: and issued by a resident of Converse County, Wyoming, or 74 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: to otherwise comply with the terms here of May on 75 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: conviction thereof result in a fine of thirteen dollars and 76 00:04:56,839 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: or a sentence of thirteen months hard play in doug Is, Wyoming. 77 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,599 Speaker 1: We're not sure if anyone has ever succeeded in their 78 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: pursuit of the hunt, but things just get sillier from here. 79 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's official website, 80 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: the jackalopes natural predators include coyotes, bobcats, eagles, and chop acabras, 81 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: among other varyingly existent animals, and on May fifteenth, five, 82 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:30,160 Speaker 1: Wyoming Governor Ed Herschler signed a proclamation recognizing Douglas, Wyoming 83 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: as the home of the jackalope. Perhaps, obviously, there's no 84 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: such thing as a jackalope, yet we do have historical 85 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: descriptions of rabbits or hairs with antlers and horns that 86 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:48,679 Speaker 1: date back to the seventeenth century and even earlier. There's 87 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: a virus called the Chope papaloma virus that could explain 88 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,799 Speaker 1: some of those sightings related to the human papaloma virus. 89 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:59,679 Speaker 1: This affliction actually does cause rabbits and hairs to develop 90 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: born like tumors. But wou'd hate to leave you on 91 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 1: such a depressing note, so let's end this episode on 92 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 1: a bit more from the natural history of the jackalope, 93 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: as related by the City of Douglas's Jackalope Hunting License 94 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: web page. It explains that although there seems to be 95 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,600 Speaker 1: a missing link in the jacalob's evolution, a now extinct 96 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:25,600 Speaker 1: or perhaps highly endangered cousin used to roam the plains 97 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: in great numbers, the sabretooth jackalope. This specimen could be 98 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:32,799 Speaker 1: distinguished by its much larger size up to a hundred 99 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,159 Speaker 1: and fifty pounds about seventy kilos, it's bangs up to 100 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: a foot and length that's about thirty centimes, and it's 101 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:44,039 Speaker 1: vicious attacks on windmills. However, the history states that the 102 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: sabretooth jackalope would join their smaller cousins and song in 103 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: perfect harmony, albeit with slightly deeper voices and a hint 104 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 1: of a French accent, likely picked up from early trappers 105 00:06:54,720 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: in the area. Today's episode is based on the article 106 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: our jackylopes really roaming the State of Wyoming on how 107 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: stuff works dot Com, written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff 108 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeart Radio in partnership with how 109 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: stuff works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler clang 110 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: Or More podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 111 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.