WEBVTT - How Do Jackalopes Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Loruren Vogelbaum. Here. Every few years, the Wyoming

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<v Speaker 1>legislature debates a hot button issue. Should the Jackalope, a

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<v Speaker 1>kind of made up jack rabbit with antlers, be recognized

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<v Speaker 1>as the state's official mythical creature. In the House of

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<v Speaker 1>Representatives in Cheyenne passed a bill that would bestow this

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<v Speaker 1>honor upon the fabled beast, but it died in the

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<v Speaker 1>state Senate. Earlier attempts to pass the bill met the

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<v Speaker 1>same roadblock. Who knows, maybe someday the hopping horned critter

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<v Speaker 1>will finally jump across that legislative finish line. And if

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<v Speaker 1>it doesn't, at least there's still the Jackalope Days Festival,

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<v Speaker 1>a summer shindig held in Douglas, Wyoming, every June. The

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<v Speaker 1>fest gives tourists a perfect excuse to come and gawk

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<v Speaker 1>at all the antler lagamore statues populating the Ease downtown area.

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<v Speaker 1>You couldn't miss Douglas if you tried. There's a jackalope

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<v Speaker 1>statue measuring thirteen feet about four meters tall, greeting motorists

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<v Speaker 1>at the city's exit on Interstate five Over in Mount

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<v Speaker 1>Rushmore Country, we find another giant jackalope, complete with the saddle,

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<v Speaker 1>at South Dakota's famous Wall Drug attraction. And that's to

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<v Speaker 1>say nothing of all the stuffed jacalope heads mounted on

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<v Speaker 1>walls at diners and souvenir stores across the Western United States.

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<v Speaker 1>One of these was given to then President Ronald Reagan

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<v Speaker 1>at a six campaign stop in Rapid City, South Dakota.

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<v Speaker 1>The All American Jackalope is considered the brainchild of taxidermist

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<v Speaker 1>Douglas Herrick. He was born just north of Douglas, Wyoming,

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<v Speaker 1>on July eight of nineteen twenty, and he served in

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<v Speaker 1>the U. S. Air Force during World War Two. This

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<v Speaker 1>was followed by a long career as a pipe fitter

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<v Speaker 1>and welder. Also an avid hunter, Herrick studied taxidermy as

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<v Speaker 1>a teenager, so at his brother Ralph Herrick, the family

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<v Speaker 1>had its very own taxidermy's shop, which is where Wyoming's

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<v Speaker 1>favorite fictional animal got its start. Varying accounts say the

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<v Speaker 1>jackalope was created sometime in nineteen thirty two or nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>thirty four, or nineteen thirty nine or nineteen forty. In

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<v Speaker 1>any case, the story goes that its birth was a

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<v Speaker 1>happy accident. One day, the Herrick brothers, fresh from hunt,

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<v Speaker 1>brought a dead jack rabbit into their shop. The carcass

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<v Speaker 1>was placed or possibly thrown, next to a set of

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<v Speaker 1>antlers on the floor. Seeing those things together gave Douglas

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<v Speaker 1>an idea. As Ralph told The New York Times in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seven, Doug said, let's mount it the way it is.

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<v Speaker 1>Mike Harrick, Douglas's son, said in a two thousand three

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<v Speaker 1>exchange with the Casper Star Tribune, I think that it

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<v Speaker 1>was kind of a joke. A lot of taxidermists full around,

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<v Speaker 1>but he didn't know they would get so popular. I

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<v Speaker 1>know he didn't know. One Roy Ball of Douglas by

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<v Speaker 1>Coming bought the original mounted jackalope off the Herricks for

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<v Speaker 1>ten dollars. After being displayed at a hotel, ball owed

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<v Speaker 1>the stuffed masterpiece was stolen in the thief was never caught.

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<v Speaker 1>Yet the jackalope business was just getting started. The Herrick

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<v Speaker 1>family produced and sold tens of thousands of these furry

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<v Speaker 1>franken beasts, a fixing deer or pronghorn antler's to jack

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<v Speaker 1>rabbit heads. The Wall Drug became a major distributor When

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<v Speaker 1>Douglas died in two thousand three, The New York Times

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<v Speaker 1>reported that Ralph's son Jim was delivering quote four hundred

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<v Speaker 1>jacalopes to wall drug in South Dakota three times a year,

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<v Speaker 1>a small portion of his total production. Seeing mounted jackalopes

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<v Speaker 1>inspired people to start making up stories about live ones.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of those tales get pretty tall. For example, jackalopes

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<v Speaker 1>are said to be quite musical. They supposedly have nice

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<v Speaker 1>tenor voices and can be heard singing in a wilderness

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<v Speaker 1>from time to time. A rumor has it that the

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<v Speaker 1>animals enjoy cowboy campfire songs. If you start one up,

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<v Speaker 1>they'll happily join the chorus from afar. Another story claims

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<v Speaker 1>a member of the Herrick family saw a real live

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<v Speaker 1>jackalope around Buffalo, Wyoming in n Ralph denied this, but

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<v Speaker 1>these fun tales have only enhanced the jackalopes real world impact.

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<v Speaker 1>Since the late nineteen forties, the Chamber of Commerce in Douglas,

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<v Speaker 1>Wyoming has issued jackalope hunting licenses. Carriers are allowed to quote, hunt, pursue, trap,

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<v Speaker 1>or otherwise take one one pronghorn jackalope within the lawful

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<v Speaker 1>boundaries of Converse County. Wyoming on June thirty one, between

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<v Speaker 1>sunrise and sunset only. Failure to have this license approved

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<v Speaker 1>and issued by a resident of Converse County, Wyoming, or

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<v Speaker 1>to otherwise comply with the terms here of May on

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<v Speaker 1>conviction thereof result in a fine of thirteen dollars and

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<v Speaker 1>or a sentence of thirteen months hard play in doug Is, Wyoming.

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<v Speaker 1>We're not sure if anyone has ever succeeded in their

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<v Speaker 1>pursuit of the hunt, but things just get sillier from here.

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<v Speaker 1>According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's official website,

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<v Speaker 1>the jackalopes natural predators include coyotes, bobcats, eagles, and chop acabras,

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<v Speaker 1>among other varyingly existent animals, and on May fifteenth, five,

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<v Speaker 1>Wyoming Governor Ed Herschler signed a proclamation recognizing Douglas, Wyoming

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<v Speaker 1>as the home of the jackalope. Perhaps, obviously, there's no

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<v Speaker 1>such thing as a jackalope, yet we do have historical

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<v Speaker 1>descriptions of rabbits or hairs with antlers and horns that

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<v Speaker 1>date back to the seventeenth century and even earlier. There's

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<v Speaker 1>a virus called the Chope papaloma virus that could explain

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<v Speaker 1>some of those sightings related to the human papaloma virus.

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<v Speaker 1>This affliction actually does cause rabbits and hairs to develop

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<v Speaker 1>born like tumors. But wou'd hate to leave you on

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<v Speaker 1>such a depressing note, so let's end this episode on

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<v Speaker 1>a bit more from the natural history of the jackalope,

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<v Speaker 1>as related by the City of Douglas's Jackalope Hunting License

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<v Speaker 1>web page. It explains that although there seems to be

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<v Speaker 1>a missing link in the jacalob's evolution, a now extinct

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<v Speaker 1>or perhaps highly endangered cousin used to roam the plains

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<v Speaker 1>in great numbers, the sabretooth jackalope. This specimen could be

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<v Speaker 1>distinguished by its much larger size up to a hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and fifty pounds about seventy kilos, it's bangs up to

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<v Speaker 1>a foot and length that's about thirty centimes, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>vicious attacks on windmills. However, the history states that the

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<v Speaker 1>sabretooth jackalope would join their smaller cousins and song in

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<v Speaker 1>perfect harmony, albeit with slightly deeper voices and a hint

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<v Speaker 1>of a French accent, likely picked up from early trappers

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<v Speaker 1>in the area. Today's episode is based on the article

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<v Speaker 1>our jackylopes really roaming the State of Wyoming on how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot Com, written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff

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