Are jackalopes real?
The Colorado Sun partners with Gigafact to investigate viral claims
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No.
The jackalope, a mythical half-hare, half-antelope that has long been part of Western lore, was popularized by a Wyoming taxidermist.
According to the city of Douglas, Wyoming, local taxidermist Ralph Herrick and his brother, Doug, dreamt up the creature in 1934 after they happened to place a dead rabbit next to a pair of antlers in their taxidermy shop. One of the brothers suggested they put the two together.
Over the next decades, the frankensteined creature ended up in gift shops and service stations across the Rocky Mountains, becoming as ubiquitous a regional cultural phenomenon as the Jersey Devil or the Pacific Northwest Sasquatch.
The city of Douglas has made “Home of the Jackalope” its motto and has an annual Jackalope Days festival every June. Even Colorado Fish and Wildlife has gotten into the fun, announcing on April Fool’s Day, 2019, that the day marked the opening of jackalope season for hunters.
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