Jackalope
A jackrabbit with antelope horns and a whiskey sing-along, the jackalope is a playful hoax turned folk icon. Said to mimic human voices, it teases cowhands and tourists alike across prairie towns.
Story beats
- 1) Frontier jokesters taxidermy a rabbit with deer antlers, sparking rumors of a wild hybrid.
- 2) Travelers hear harmonizing yodels at dusk; locals claim it is the jackalope’s love songs.
- 3) It’s said you can milk one for medicinal whiskey if you bait it with beer.
- 4) Postcards, hunting licenses, and roadside statues turn the tale into regional charm.
Context & symbolism
The jackalope blends tall-tale humor with American roadside culture. It pokes fun at gullibility and celebrates local storytelling economies—tourist kitsch as communal in-joke.
Real-world inspirations include rabbits with Shope papillomavirus causing horn-like growths, giving science a cameo in the myth.
Motifs
- Antlered rabbit hybrid
- Echoed songs and yodels
- Novelty licenses and taxidermy
- Beer or whiskey as bait
Use it in play
- Lighthearted hunt: catch a jackalope to win a bet; find it’s smarter than expected.
- Use its mimicry to relay messages—or sow confusion—on the frontier.
- Discover “antlers” are cursed growths; curing a herd prevents a blight.
- Tourist trap caper: fake licenses and jackalope merch fund a bigger scheme.