Folklore is a part of Americana as apple pie and hotrods. Most of the time the origin of the story is unknown or at least debatable. The jackalope, on the other hand, has a credible origin story from the little town of Douglas.

As Wyomingites, we know the joke. Sometimes we "play along" with the story, but most of us know that it was two brothers from Douglas who grafted pronghorn antlers to a jackrabbit. It all goes back to 1934 when  Ralph and Doug Herrick created the hoax to make some coin.

Present day, the town of Douglas has several large statues of the mythical creature. They have proclaimed the town to be the "Jackalope Capital of the World." You can even buy a hunting license.

They aren't the only Wyoming town to cash in on the cryptid. In Dubois, Wyoming, you can ride the world's largest stuffed jackalope. Not to mention every gift shop in the state has something with a jackalope on it.

The thing that is astonishing is that Wyoming has been trolling the nation for over 80 years. Now, I've known about the Jackalope, but the folks at Circa pointed out that this is one epic prank if it has lasted this long.

 

 

More From 104.7 KISS-FM