Land of the Free, Home of the Jackalope

Legend has it that, in the 1930's, Douglas Herrick and his brother discovered the first jackalope in the American West. (It should be noted that the brothers Herrick were taxidermists.) Their "discovery" put their hometown of Douglas, Wyoming on the map and, in true American entrepreneurial fashion, the town has capitalized on the discovery and has even gone so far as to build an eight foot statue of a jackalope in the center of town.

The elusive jackalope (a.k.a. lepus temperamentalus) is, theoretically, one of the rarest animals in the world which makes the sighting of a jackalope quite exciting, indeed. It is a very shy animal but, when provoked, is extremely aggressive and uses its antlers to attack its opponent. The jackalope comes by these personality traits honestly since it is the product of a now extinct pygmy deer and a species of killer rabbit. The rarity of the breed is attributed to its ability to mate only when lightning flashes.

The jackalope has the amazing ability to imitate any sound that it hears, including the human voice. Cowboys have reported singing around the campfire and hearing a distant, exquisite tenor voice providing harmony. They are certain that this is the voice of the jackalope. This ability to copy the human voice has enabled the jackalope to fool potential captors by yelling, "I think he went that-a-way!".

The only known way to capture a jackalope is by putting out a flask of whiskey at night. The creature is particularly fond of the taste of whiskey and, when it becomes intoxicated, is much easier to capture.

I have had my own personal encounter with a jackalope, when it was served to me at a dinner hosted by some friends. Our hosts had prepared a beautiful meal with delicious food, including the tenderest, tastiest meat I had ever eaten. When I complimented our hosts on how good the meat was, he said "that's jackalope meat". A discussion about the merits of jackalope meat ensued. I remarked on it's mild flavor (not gamey, like one would expect) and our host gave me tips on purchasing the meat from hunters, since it wasn't available in the store.

Two whole weeks went by before I was informed that what I had really eaten was nothing more than turkey.

Turkey? But, I thought......

Really, I had seen stranger things. A stuffed and mounted rabbit with antlers on its head seemed believable enough in a place where people ate buffalo burgers and washed them down with root beer. Nevertheless, I had fallen for the oldest Idaho tourist prank in the book.

This experience prompted me to never again be thought of as an outsider. So, when I heard that only tourists don't know the words to the Idaho State Song, I made it a point to learn the whole song. Every word.You can listen to it here. Or, next time you're sitting out by a campfire in the evening, listen closely.

Maybe you'll hear a jackalope singing it for you.