Jackalope
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| The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore (a so-called "fearsome critter") described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns or deer antlers and sometimes a pheasant's tail (and often hind legs). The word "jackalope" is a portmanteau of "jackrabbit" and "antelope". The story of the jackalope was popularised in Wyoming in the 1930s after a local hunter used taxidermy skills to graft deer antlers onto a jackrabbit carcass, selling the creature to a local hotel. It is possible that the tales of jackalopes were inspired by sightings of rabbits infected with the Shope papilloma virus, which causes the growth of horn- and antler-like tumors in various places on the rabbit's head and body. This theory is to be taken more seriously when we know that in arabian mythology, there is a similar creature called "Al-mir'aj". This animal is described as a ferocious, blood-thirsty hare with dark spots all over its body and having a long, pointy horn on its forehead, like this of a unicorn. So, both jackalope and al-mir'aj legends probably originate from the witnessing of the same phenomenon.
For more information, visit the Wikipedia entry. Back to Legendary Creatures |
