Every time my family and I made the trip to the Black Hills when I was a little kid, we always had to stop at Wall Drug. We always got some ice-cream, my mom looked at Black Hills Gold Jewelry and my dad looked through as many of the 1,000’s of historic artifacts/photos that he could.

As you can imagine, a place like Wall Drug that attracts over 30,000 visitors daily during the peak season sells quite the variety of souvenirs. One type of keepsake always caught my attention more than the others….

The Jackalopes.

If you’re not from South Dakota or one of the neighboring states, you might be slightly dumbfounded by the term “Jackalope.”  This would happen to be a super-breed of bunny crossed with an antelope, creating a small, horned rabbit supposedly indigenous to the American West. Wall Drug is filled with all kinds of Jackalope memorabilia, large and small, ranging from around $2 to over $100.

But how did all this bunny business start?  Here’s what I found out today:

The idea of the Jackalope, also called antelabbit, stagbunny or Wyoming thistle hare, possibly came from sightings of rabbits infected with the Shope Papilloma Virus. This virus is known for causing antler-like tumors to form on a rabbit’s body, hence making the animal appear to be a product of cross-breeding with a goat, deer or antelope.

The myth of the Jackalope goes even further. Many believe the Jackalope to be a very shy, quick and intelligent animal, making sightings very rare.  The milk of the females is thought by some to have powerful medicinal purposes, and Jackalolpe meat supposedly tastes like lobster.

Interested in a hunting expedition for mythical bunny rabbit?  You can get a hunting license during the one and only official day of the Jackalope season in Douglas, Wyoming, on June 31 from midnight to 2 AM.

Maybe during your next family trek to Wall Drug, you should heed my mother’s advice and keep on the lookout for the infamous Jackalopes. Could it be possible her advice was more than just a ploy to keep my brother and me from fighting in the car? You can decide for yourself.

For more Jackalope info, take a look at these sites:

Wikipedia
Jackalope.com
Museum of Hoaxes
Jackalope Junction