A jackalope in the wild Douglas Chamber of Commerce
The story goes that the very first jackalope was created by a Douglas taxidermist. But is that reality or myth? You see, if the first jackalope came from the inspiration of an animal stuffer, how come the animals have been known to sing harmony with cowboys riding the range? And why is there now an annual hunting season on the critters? Did they take on a real life after creation like Alice's friends in Wonderland?
Admittedly the Jackalope Capital of Wyoming (possibly the world) is Douglas where you will find all kinds of the curious critters, including an eight-footer at Jackalope Square. Douglas Herrick crossed the first jackrabbit with a deer (later some of the animals were crossed with antelope giving it the distinctive name) creating the jackalope, a creature that has literally bounced its way from Douglas to Dubois and into the hearts of people around the world.
After hunting some jackrabbits with his brother, Douglas Herrick tossed one animal into the shop where they did some taxidermy work, a skill they had learned as teenagers through a mail-order course. The rabbit landed near a pair of mule deer horns and inspiration hit Herrick, who had soon mounted the crossbred critter.
Roy Ball placed a 10 spot on the counter and bought that first Herrick jackalope, displaying it for years in the Labonte Hotel in Douglas until thieves swiped it in 1977. The town that gave birth to the hybrid buck with big feet soon had them everywhere. They graced business shelves, the sides of fire trucks, park benches, and an eight-footer stood watch in an island along a town street until a pickup tried to run it over. But a new larger-than-life size replica was soon placed in Jackalope Square in the center of Douglas, where it stands to this day. An even bigger version, a 10-footer, is on a hillside adjacent to I-25 north of the city and a new 14-footer has just arrived in the city.
Every summer the city hosts Jackalope Days and there are warning
Jackalope Douglas Chamber of Commerce
signs throughout town: "Watch out for the jackalope." Reportedly some people believed that meant the animals had a propensity to attack when threatened, although there are no documented jack attacks.
The jackalopes multiplied so rapidly, obviously reflecting their rabbit breeding, that the state opened a hunting season. Licenses are available from the Douglas Chamber of Commerce. If you are unsuccessful on the hunt (the season is from midnight to 2 a.m. each June 31), don't despair, you can find a can of jackalope milk at stores so the family won't go hungry.
If you keep your eye peeled as you travel west from Douglas, you might see jackalopes in the wild (I said might!). In some areas of the state, cowboys camped out on the range have reported hearing the animals sing harmony with them (this usually occurs only after the cowboys have emptied their whiskey bottles).
The best place for you to search for a jackalope in the wild is in wide open country where there aren't a lot of other distractions. I recommend driving I-25 to Casper, U.S. 20/26 to Shoshoni, then crossing onto the Wind River Indian Reservation and continuing to follow U.S. 26 to Riverton and Dubois.
If you don't spot a jackalope on the drive, don't feel too bad. They are elusive. Unsuccessful jackalope hunters will say there is simply nothing out there.
But don't despair because you will definitely see a jackalope when you get to Dubois. He is big and pink and stands in front of the Country Store, home of the Jacklope Museum. Inside is possibly the world's largest, most docile long-eared jackalope in existence. Get ready to ride cowboy – this fine animal is saddled and just waiting for you to climb aboard.
So long as you take advantage of the restrooms, you can't miss the Jackalope Museum: a hallway display with jackalope replicas, relics and memorabilia, plus news articles about sightings that date back to the 19th century. All this makes it clear that the jackalope is reality. Or is that just a myth?
Candy Moulton is the author of Roadside History of Wyoming and a dozen other books about Wyoming and Western history.
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