This jackalope may look adorable, but according to legend, it’s a vicious beast.

In the summer of 2011, I needed an escape. I ended up going to see my sister, who lived in Austin, in my first-ever trip to the state of Texas.

Long story short? I fell in love with Texas. In an absolute, complete, I-see-no-wrong kind of love. The smell of burnt asphalt and cactus blossom laced with a kiss of mesquite. In Hill Country, woods and mountains not much different from Connecticut, but with the occasional surprise of a cactus thrusting from a blanket of past autumn leaves. The joy of watching over a half a million bats emerge from underneath the Congress Avenue Bridge. The 108 degree heat, hot glazed pecans at the HEB, and people who will absolutely talk to a total stranger without looking at him like he has five heads.

Me at The Jackalope, a dive bar with incredible burgers on 6th Street in Austin, Texas. There’s a challenge associated with the giant jackalope that stares at you the second you walk in—you have to have a drink in your hand to climb on. It’s not easy. Trust me! To visit The Jackalope’s website, visit here: https://www.jackalopebar.com/downtown To read about my adventures at the bar when I visited in 2016, visit here: https://kristipetersenschoonover.com/2016/05/23/i-met-a-real-jackalope/

But during that brief visit, there was something much darker happening: wildfires. We could see the smoke channeling in the distance, and on the news, there were devastating tales of lost property and gruesome shots of charred animals.

When I was invited to write a story for Western Legends Press’ Unnatural Tales of the Jackalope, I couldn’t help but slam the wildfires and this mysterious legendary creature together.

The jackalope is a half jackrabbit, half antelope that supposedly stalks the lowlands of the American west. According to legend, it only gives birth in a lightning storm; its milk is an aphrodisiac; it can only be killed if you get it drunk on whiskey; and it has an uncanny knack for mimicking the human voice.

In every legend, though, there is a grain of truth, and in the case of the jackalope, that truth is so solid that not only do we know where the “legend” of the jackalope came from, we know that they actually exist, so to speak.

Drawings and prints of a strange horned rabbit had been showing up for hundreds of years, and eventually, it was discovered that there are such things as jackrabbits covered in horns. This is due to an illness called the Shope papilloma virus. It’s easy to imagine that from a distance, these creatures would look like a strange new breed rather than a sick animal.

My husband, Nathan, right, with his best friend Eddy, who did something awesome: Eddy had a wall-mounted jackalope (which is usually pricey) and decided to give it to us after he’d heard I had written a story about them.

Eddy’s jackalope hangs over my mantel.

The jackalope lives on the wall in my living room year-round. Here he is watching over my mantel’s winter decorations.

Here’s links for further reading, and don’t forget to pick up The Shadows Behind to find out what these malicious monsters are up to during the Texas wildfires in “The Thing Inside.” You can get your copy here.

“Are Jackalopes Real?”, by Peg Boettcher, Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, March 21, 2015

https://yeoldecuriosityshop.com/blogs/news/17793604-are-jackalopes-real

“The world’s scariest rabbit lurks within the Smithsonian’s collection,” by Micaela Jemison, Smithsonian Insider, https://insider.si.edu/2014/10/worlds-scariest-rabbit-lurks-within-smithsonians-collection/

“The jackalope is a rare and fierce creature,” Jackalope—Home Décor as Unique as YOU Are, https://jackalope.com/the-legend-of-jackalope/

City of Douglas, WY: Home of the Jackalope (and you can even download and print your very own Jackalope Hunting License!) https://www.cityofdouglas.org/255/The-Legend-of-the-Jackalope