Wednesday, March 18, 2015

J is for.....

J  is  for...    JACKALOPE
                                       (CREATIVE TUESDAY  participants please scroll down one page)

It was our first summer after arriving in Canada way back in 1960.  We decided to take our vacation from college by taking a trip out west from Toronto to see the Rockies.  So we packed up our beat up old volkswagen and set out across the prairies.

It was on one of our first stops in a small prairie town that we first came across the JACKALOPE.   We picked out a restaurant on the high street and went to have dinner.  Once inside and having ordered I looked around the typical western diner, when I notice this mounted on the wall.


Now, we were rookies in North America but this was something I'd never seen before.  We asked the young fellow serving us about it, 

"Oh that's a Jackalope," he said.

"Okay," I replied, somewhat sceptically.  I'd been a teacher for a few years and I'd never come across anything like this in any of my Geography books.  But I was new in the area, British and far too polite to argue.

Sometime later I knew it was a practical joke -- a jack rabbit with horns glued on it.  

But actually it's become much more than just a simple practical joke.  Over the years a whole fable has grown up around the jackalope .  Here are some embellishments:

It was first heard of in 1829, but has its roots in the 16th century:


If you want to hunt jackalopes, you must have a Jackalope Hunting Permit and you must have an IQ between 50 and 72....



Who would ever go to all the trouble of knitting a sweater with  an animal on it that doesn't exist?



or wear the inevitable Tee Shirt?


and would the department of transport be fooled?


Here are some more interesting 'facts':

                                                                                                                      (borrowed from Wikipedia)

There's much more to this legend, so if you have the time, Google it on your computer.
*******
This is my contribution to ABC Wednesday, that excellent project begun by Mrs. Nesbitt and continued by Roger Owen Green and his team of volunteers now in its 16th round. Why don't you check out other entries by clicking HERE?

11 comments:

Gill - That British Woman said...

can't say I have ever seen one, or will admit to seeing one...wink, wink!!

Anonymous said...

nice story, like the unicorn.

Roger Owen Green said...

Yes, I have heard the tail, er, tale.

ROG, ABCW

Gattina said...

That's an interesting story ! I had never heard of jackalopes, what a funny creation !

Su-sieee! Mac said...

I would be gullible enough to believe there is such a thing as a jackalope. So, I'm glad I came across your post. Thank you very much. :-)
The View from the Top of the Ladder

snafu said...

A great talking point, either one of the heads or a framed hunting licence on the wall. Good 'J'

claude said...

Ha ! Ha ! Ha!

kaybee said...

Still laughing! That is priceless, and a great post!

Patty said...

That's truly interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

I had heard about Jackalopes in the past. Not sure where we first saw it but were gullible enough to believe it for a while. LOL

Black Jack's Carol said...

Well, I had never heard of a Jackalope, Chris, so this was a fascinating (and fun) read. Love the story of a couple of adventurous college students setting out in their Volkswagon to see the Rockies too! Your ABC posts are wonderful!