Authentic Jackalope TM

"Jackalope" is no portmanteau!

….and they are not Jackadeer.

While there is an extensive body of North American mythology surrounding this very real mammal, sometimes described as a jackrabbit with horns, the Authentic Jackalope’s origin traces back to the oldest of mammalian species found in North America, those of the Corral Bluffs and Jimmy Camp formations in central Colorado dating back 66 million years. The Authentic Jackalope, once thought to have coevolved with both the Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and the American Cheetah (Miracinonyx inexpectatus) during the Pleistocene epochs, is a much more ancient species than either, impacting evolution across the continent and influencing the earliest human folklore.

Some of the most famous of Jackalope fictions center around the small towns and gas stations of Wyoming, Utah, Montana, The Dakotas, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. In the 1930’s a pair of enterprising young hunters from Douglas Wyoming began selling jackrabbit heads with dear antlers attached in a lucrative hoax. Possibly inspired by personal experience, these clearly fake Jackalope mounts, gained in popularity but Authentic Jackalopes were never taken by hunters. The taxidermied fakes began appearing in establishments from gas stations, tourist traps, local bars, and pool halls to homes around the Western United States as small deer antlers were in good supply from the less skilled local hunters and jackrabbits were plentiful. Even though these fakes were becoming the common vision of the legendary Authentic Jackalope, enough people had seen the real thing over the years to inspire the famous statue in Douglas Wyoming. One theory suggests that increased sightings near gas stations and roadside attractions is due to the generally elusive creature’s curiosity and thirst for news of adventure.

The statue in Douglas Wyoming clearly depicts an Authentic Jackalope even if the local establishments and governments continue to sell inauthentic likenesses of every sort.

Following the success of the fake taxidermies in Douglas,Wyoming, an industry developed around the fakes and myths growing into what is widely know as “Big Jackalope.” Rumor has it that a high growth mega-gas-station chain wanted to adopt a jackalope as their mascot. Not knowing the true nature of the Authentic Jackalope™, they began development of a logo based on the deer-horned fake jackalope and were nearly sued into oblivion by Big Jackalope and its evermore powerful behind the scenes backers. 

Typical examples of the hoaxes found throughout the West’s roadside stops.

One of the more compelling stories and one that is most likely true, was that of an epic battle between a lone, cunning, and highly intelligent Authentic Jackalope and the local Pronghorn on one side, and the American Cheetah (Miracinonyx) on the other in the region of Northern Wyoming near the current town of Lovell. The fossil record at the bottom of Natural Trap Cave provides convincing testimony to the ancient account. The Authentic Jackalope engineered a corralling of the remaining American Cheetah population using Pronghorns as bait. During the ensuing extreme, high-speed chase, the outsmarted and out-maneuvered Cheetahs cascaded like lemmings into the Natural Trap Cave which prior to white settlers, was known as Jackalope Hole often confused with Jackson Hole further to the West. Unable to escape the 85-foot-deep sinkhole, the entire population of American Cheetah perished. This led to over twelve thousand years of tranquility and prosperity for the Pronghorn, allowing the fiercely independent, self-reliant, Authentic Jackalope to become a legend and Pronghorn to proliferate unmolested across Western North America. 

Other examples of myths that deserve further exploration is the idea that Authentic Jackalopes serve as an intelligence gathering agency for various Sasquatch and Yeti enclaves and have proven cunning and effective in their role of ensuring logistics blackouts across the entire Sasquatch/Yeti population. 

In modern times, the solitary Authentic Jackalope is very rarely seen and, over hundreds of years of post-Columbian American history, never captured. It is widely believed by those in the know, that the snake-skin jacket was invented by a particularly fashion-savvy specimen as a symbol of his fierce and rugged individualism and the entire species’ belief in personal freedom.