The jackalope is a popular mythical creature in American folklore, described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns and a love of mischief.¹ Folklore claims they can mimic human voices and often sing along with cowboys’ campfire songs. Some hunters even swear you can catch a jackalope by leaving out whiskey.
Pinning down the origins of the jackalope is more difficult than catching one. In the 1930s, two brothers, Douglas and Ralph Herrick, created the first known taxidermy jackalope in Douglas, Wyoming, and many sources credit them with its creation. However, there is recorded evidence suggesting that horned rabbits had been spotted in the American West as early as 1808 on the Lewis and Clarke expedition. Earlier still, in 16th, 17th, and 18th-century Europe, illustrations show rabbits with horns growing out of their heads. In modern times, biologists have speculated that these images might depict rabbits with the Shope papilloma virus (SPV), which can cause horn-like warty growths on the heads of rabbits and hares.² 

Other theories suggest the jackalope is the North American cousin of the Bavarian Wolpertinger or Austrian Raurackl. Still others link the jackalope to North American Indigenous stories in which the rabbit is a common trickster figure, or African American tales of Brer Rabbit.  Perhaps, like the Herrick brothers’ original taxidermy, our mythical figure is a combination of subjects. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s not a myth at all. Whatever the answer, we’re awfully fond of our namesake. 

Featured in the episode that started it all:
“How you doin’ Mothman?”

Footnotes

1. Encyclopedia of Deception, edited by Timothy R. Levine, SAGE Publications, Incorporated, 2014.
2. On the Trail of the Jackalope: How a Legend Captured the World’s Imagination and Helped Us Cure Cancer. By Michael P. Branch.

The Wolpertinger: 

The Wolpertinger is a mythical creature from Bavarian folklore, often depicted in art and taxidermy as a hybrid animal. It combines the features of rabbits, squirrels, ducks, and deer, and usually has small antlers on top of its head. The most commonly known image of the Wolpertinger in North America is Albrecht Dürer‘s image of a winged, fanged and horned rabbit, although this is not necessarily its only form. Folklore suggests that the creature inhabits the forests of Bavaria and is known for its elusive, mischievous behavior. The Wolpertinger reflects a broader European tradition of chimera animals like the Swedish Skavader or the German (more specifically Rheinpfalz) Elwetrittche, that blend real animals into fantastical forms for storytelling, fun and playfulness Some historians suggest that these legends served as commentary on hunting culture in rural Bavaria.
Modern interest in the Wolpertinger has reignited museum exhibits, souvenirs, and occasional humorous reports. If you like whimsical creatures and read German, the Wolpertinger is worth looking into. Unfortunately academic information in English is limited but the Wikipedia entry offers a useful starting point. Jetzt muss ich meinen Traum, ein Wolpertinger-Stipendiat zu werden, aufgeben. So traurig.

We briefly mention this magnificent creature in: “How you doin’ Mothman?”

Black Dog/Black Shuck: 

The term “Black Dog” refers to ghostly or supernatural dogs reported in folklore across Britain and beyond. They are often described as large, shaggy, and unnaturally silent, with glowing eyes. Legends tell that they often haunt crossroads and churchyards.  While some tales portray them as protectors, most depict them as beings that vanish as mysteriously as they appear, not even leaving paw prints.

Black Shuck is one of the most famous examples of these spectral hounds. Hailing from East Anglian folklore, Black Shuck is usually described as a massive black dog with fiery red eyes. Legends date back to at least the 16th century, with one notorious 1577 account claiming that Shuck burst into a church during a storm, killing two parishioners before vanishing.¹ Like our eerie friend Mothman, Shuck and other phantom hounds are considered harbingers, and their appearances are often said to precede death or disaster. In Northern England, Barghest is a similarly fierce creature and in Wales, Gwyllgi.  

In literature, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1902 Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles features creatures inspired by this ghostly canine folklore, consistently frightening new readers all over the world, like Bekah in the 6th grade.

Find out more about spectral dogs in our episode: Spectral Dogs of Great Britain

The Beast of Gévaudan:

The Beast of Gévaudan was a mysterious creature that terrorized the rural region of Gévaudan, France, from 1764 to 1767.¹  Unlike other beast or cryptid sightings of the 18th century (or even the 21st, really) the Beast of Gevaudan was highly publicized, witnessed and recorded. It began when a young shepherdess was found slain, her throat torn out by something that moved like a wolf  but was much more cunning. By 1767, the beast was implicated in  over 100 deaths.

Witnesses described seeing a wolf-like creature that displayed unusual intelligence and boldness, showing no natural fear of humans.² Unlike ordinary wolves, the beast seemed to possess an insatiable appetite for human flesh, typically killing by tearing at victims’ throats. It’s victims were mainly women and children who stayed too far into the countryside alone. Its behavior was so uncharacteristic of normal wildlife that it attracted attention throughout Europe and fascinated paupers and princes alike.

Various theories emerged to explain the creature’s identity, ranging from escaped exotic animals like hyenas (seriously some noble had “pet” hyenas) to supernatural explanations like werewolves. More practical suggestions included trained wolf-dog hybrids or even human serial killers using animal attacks as cover. Despite extensive hunts involving royal troops and professional hunters, the mystery was never definitively solved, and the Beast of Gévaudan remains one of France’s most enduring unsolved cases over 250 years later.

Explore our Werewolves and Cheese episode to learn more.  What’s with the name? I don’t know, Eric named it. 

Footnotes

1. Smith, Jay M. Monsters of the Gévaudan : The Making of a Beast, Harvard University Press, 2011.
2. Paijmans, Theo. “75 THE BEAST OF GÉVAUDAN.” Fortean Times, no. 377, Mar., 2019, pp. 30–3

The Batsquatch

The Batsquatch is a dark, winged creature first sighted around Mount Saint Helens in 1980, just months before its eruption.¹ Or was sighted during the eruption? Or was birthed from the ash as the earth was torn asunder? Or appeared after? You see, there’s some debate on whether the Batsquatch came before or after the eruption, which makes its harbinger qualifications a little sketchy, but I’ll let the people have what they want and say it’s a harbinger.

It wasn’t until 1994 that we got a clearer picture of the beast. As 18-year-old Brian Canfield drove home one night near Mount Rainier’s foothills, his truck mysteriously stopped. He told a reporter that in front of him, he saw a nine-foot-tall monster with bluish fur and a wingspan “as large as the road.” Canfield described the creature for the Tacoma News Tribune [2] saying, “Its eyes were yellow and shaped like a piece of pie with pupils like a half moon. The mouth was pretty big, white teeth, no fangs. The face was like a wolf.” Eventually the creature looked at him, spread its giant wings and flew into the sky. Canfield’s truck miraculously started again and he rushed home.

Similar dark or blue leather-winged creatures have been spotted through the years. Are they the same creature or distant cousins? The Man Bat of Wisconsin was recorded by Linda S. Godfrey in 2006. In 2011 hikers sighted him in California. And in 2015 a woman known only as Sarah reported to MUFON seeing an “…entity seven to eight feet tall with leathery wings from its shoulders to the ground, dark in color with pointed ears on a triangular head. Its yellow eyes stared at her making her feel very uncomfortable.” All we know is, if the increasing sightings really are of our favorite flying blue harbinger, maybe we should listen.

Learn more about Batsquatch on our Winged Harbingers and Scary Sky Creatures episode

Footnotes

1. Oker, J.W. ,The United States of Cryptids, Penguin Random House, 2022
2. Roberts, C.R., The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, April 24, 1994

Cadborosaurus/Caddy:

The Cadborosaurus is a sea creature first officially recorded in 1933 off Cadboro Bay in Victoria, British Columbia, when Major H.W. Langley and his wife reported something unusual while sailing. After the local newspaper published their account, others came forward with sightings of a greenish-brown, serpent-like creature 20-100 feet long with either a camelid, equine, or bovine head, ridged back, and fins.Canadian author Hubert Evans had watched the creature with family, initially mistaking its undulating form for seals before realizing something far stranger was swimming before them. Afraid of ridicule, he stayed silent until the 1933 article gave him and others, the courage to speak up. Victoria Daily Times editor Archie H. Wills dubbed the creature “Cadborosaurus,” or “Caddy.” And though the first recorded on paper, these were not the first sightings, locals had hearing similar tales since the 19th century and Indigenous people for much, much  longer. 

But not all were convinced of the creature, some believe that the sightings were of a pipefish. Skeptical paleontologist Darren Naish points out this timing wasn’t coincidental, 1933 was when Loch Ness Monster fever swept the world, inspiring journalists to write about their own local water monsters. Wills even admitted it was “a fun story in a depressing time.”

Still, witnesses insisted Caddy wasn’t just another Nessie.The most compelling evidence came in 1937: a 12-foot carcass found in a sperm whale’s stomach. Though partially decomposed, it showed a camelid head, coiling body, and flippers before being photographed, displayed, and eventually disposed of. Was it really a baby Cadborosaurus? Probably not.But it fascinated zoologist Ed Bousfield and oceanographer Paul Le Blond, who published formal scientific papers in the 1990s describing the carcass. Unable to match Caddy’s characteristics to any known creature, they gave it the scientific name Cadborosaurus willsi, theorizing it might be a reptile-mammal hybrid that gives live birth. So what is Caddy? Most cryptozoologists believe the undulating spine and live births suggest an evolved Basilosaurus, an extinct giant whale. 

For more info, listen to our episode: North American Sea Cryptids  

Bonus, in this episode you learn the word globster and get to hear Bekah stumble over unfamiliar languages, again. 

Further Reading

https://cadborosaurus.ca/
https://tetzoo.com/blog/2020/11/16/cadborosaurus-carcass-review 
The Cadborosaurus Wars,” by Darren Naish (2012), critiques the methodologies and interpretations of Bousfield and LeBlond
Bousfield, Edward L., & LeBlond, Paul H. (1995). “An account of Cadborosaurus willsi, new genus, new species, a large aquatic reptile from the Pacific coast of North America.” Amphipacifica Vol. 1 Suppl. 1.

The Cornish Owl Man 

In 1976, paranormal researcher Tony Shiels documented what became known as the first sighting of the Cornish Owl man. Don Melling reported that his daughters, 12-year-old June and 9-year-old Vicky, encountered a terrifying creature flying above Mawnan church tower during their Cornwall holiday on April 17th. The sighting was so frightening that the family cut their vacation short.

The story gained wider attention when published in Morgawr: The Monster of Falmouth Bay by Anthony Mawnan-Peller¹ that same year. Two teenage readers, Sally Chapman and Barbara Perry, subsequently reported their own encounter while camping near Mawnan church. They described hearing hissing sounds and seeing a creature “like a big owl with pointed ears, as big as a man” with “red and glowing” eyes and feet “like pincers.” When Chapman laughed at it initially, “it went up in the air and we both screamed.” See witness drawings at this excellent site here. Additional witnesses emerged, including a woman who said her name was Miss Opie who claimed to see “a monster, like a devil, flying up through the trees near old Mawnan Church” in 1978. Later sightings continued into the 1990s. In 1995, a tourist from Chicago reported to the Western Morning News describing a “man-bird … with a ghastly face, a wide mouth, glowing eyes, and pointed ears.”
According to Jonathan Downes, author of The Owlman and Others², the period between autumn 1975 and spring 1977 was marked by unusual phenomena in Southern Cornwall, including droughts, floods, mobs of feral cats, birds beating themselves against walls, teleporting cows, and increased UFO sightings.

Some skeptics suggest the encounters were either a hoax by Shiels or misidentifications of large eagle owls, which can reach over two feet in length with six-foot wingspans. For cryptozoology enthusiasts, the Cornish Owlman remains an intriguing puzzle similar to West Virginia’s Mothman. As Downes writes, “We are left now with what devotees of TV game shows would no doubt call the $64,000 question. Does the Owlman exist? And if it does what is it?”

To hear more about the Owl Man and the NC Owl defense listen to our episode: To Owl or Not to Owl

Footnotes:
Anthony Mawnan-Peller, Morgawr: The Monster of Falmouth Bay (1976)
Jonathan Downes, The Owlman and Oth