5. Jackalope
The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore (a so-called “fearsome critter”) described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns or deer antlers and sometimes a pheasant’s tail (and often hind legs). The word “jackalope” is a portmanteau of “jackrabbit” and “antelope”, an archaic spelling of “antelope”. It is also known as Lepus temperamental us.
It is possible that the tales of jackanapes were inspired by sightings of rabbits infected with the Shope papilloma virus, which causes the growth of horn- and antler-like tumors in various places on the rabbit’s head and body. This can occur in cottontail rabbits under natural conditions and in domestic rabbits under experimental conditions. Systemic regression of warts occurs in a variable proportion of rabbits as a consequence of a specific cell-mediated immune response. Persistent warts may progress into invasive carcinomas. Progression into carcinomas is observed in approximately 25% of cottontail rabbits and in up to 75% of domestic rabbits with persistent warts. The jackalope has bred the rise of many outlandish (and largely tongue-in-cheek) claims as to the creature’s habits. For example, it is said to be a hybrid of the pygmy-deer and a species of “killer rabbit”. Reportedly, jackanapes are extremely shy unless approached. Legend also has it that female jackanapes c an be milked as they sleep belly up and that the milk can be used for a variety of medicinal purposes. It has also been said that the jackalope can convincingly imitate any sound, including the human voice. It uses this ability to elude pursuers, chiefly by using phrases such as “There he goes! That way!”
During days of the Old West, when cowboys gathered by the campfires singing at night, jackanapes could often be heard mimicking their voices. It is said that a jackalope may be caught by putting a flask of whiskey out at night. The jackalope will drink its fill of whiskey and its intoxication will make it easier to hunt. In some parts of the United States it is said that jackalope meat has a taste similar to lobster. However, legend has it that they are dangerous if approached. It has also been said that jackanapes will only breed during electrical storms including hail, explaining its rarity.
According to the Douglas Chamber of Commerce, a 1930s hunting trip for jackrabbits led to the idea of a Jackalope. Herrick and his brother had studied taxidermy by mail order as teenagers.When the brothers returned from a hunting trip, Herrick tossed a jackrabbit carcass into the taxidermy store, where it came to rest beside a pair of deer antlers. The accidental combination of animal forms sparked Douglas Herrick’s idea for a jackalope.
4. The Madagascar tree
In 1881 German explorer “Carl Liche” wrote an account in the South Australian Register of encountering a sacrifice performed by the “Mkodo” tribe of Madagascar:
“the slender delicate palpi, with the fury of starved serpents, quivered a moment over her head, then as if instinct with demoniac intelligence fastened upon her in sudden coils round and round her neck and arms; then while her awful screams and yet more awful laughter rose wildly to be instantly strangled down again into a gurgling moan, the tendrils one after another, like great green serpents, with brutal energy and infernal rapidity, rose, retracted themselves, and wrapped her about in fold after fold, ever tightening with cruel swiftness and savage tenacity of anacondas fastening upon their prey.”
The tree was given further publicity by the 1924 book by former Governor of Michigan Chase Osborn, Madagascar, Land of the Man-eating Tree. Osborn claimed that both the tribes and missionaries on Madagascar knew about the hideous tree, and also repeated the above Liche account.
In his 1955 book, Salamanders and other Wonders, science author Willy Ley determined that the Mkodo tribe, Carl Liche, and the Madagascar man-eating tree itself all appeared to be fabrications
3. Thetis Lake Monster
On 22 August 1972, the Victoria Daily Times reported that two local teens claimed to have been chased from the beach at Thetis Lake by a creature which roughly resembled Gill-man from the Creature from the Black Lagoon. One of the teens claimed to have been slashed on the hand by the creature, which displayed three webbed toes and fingers along with a barbed fins on its skull, arms, and legs, prompting an investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It was described to be “roughly triangular in shape, about five feet (~1.5 m) tall and five feet across the base”. At the time, the officer stated that “the boys seem sincere, and until we determine otherwise we have no alternative but to continue our investigation.” Four days after the story was reported, two men claimed to have spotted the creature on the opposite side of the lake from its first appearance. According to one, “it came out of the water and looked around. Then it went back into the water. Then we ran!”
The boys described the creature as “shaped like an ordinary body, like a human being body but it had a monster face, and it was scaly [with] a point sticking out of its head [and] great big ears.” They believed the creature had a humanlike face, although it appeared to have scaly and silvery-blue colored skin. On 26 August 1972, The Province received a call from a man claiming to have lost a pet Tegu lizard in the area the previous year. Tegus, indigenous to Latin America and mostly carnivorous, can grow up to four feet in length. They are commonly kept as pets. The investigating police officers believed the lizard matched the description of the creature and the case was closed.
2. Kasai rex
Kasai rex is an animal claimed to be a carnivorous living dinosaur in Africa. There are conflicting descriptions of it, and the only original reports are suspected by most cryptozoologists to be dubious.
In 1932 John Johnson (sometimes spelled Johanson), a Swedish plantation owner, was traveling with a servant in the Kasai valley, in the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). They encountered rhinoceros, and, while attempting to pass it without detection, were surprised by a large creature rushing out of the undergrowth and attacking the rhinoceros. The servant ran away and Johnson fainted. He awoke to see that the creature was eating the rhinoceros. “It was reddish in color, with blackish-colored stripes,” he said later. “It had a long snout and numerous teeth.” He decided that the creature, 13 m (43 ft) long, was a Tyrannosaurus. he also said “The legs were thick; it reminded me of a lion, built for speed”.
There is a similar story in an edition of the Rhodesia Herald, also from 1932, albeit accompanied by an obviously hoaxed photo, it is probably untrue:
‘On February 16 last I went on a shooting trip, accompanied by my gun bearer. I had only a Winchester for small game, not expecting anything big. At 2 p.m. I had reached the Kasai valley (sic).
No game was in sight. As we were going down to the water, the boy suddenly called out “elephants”. It appeared that two giant bulls were almost hidden by the jungle. About 50 yards away from them I saw something incredible – a monster, about 16 yards in length, with a lizard’s head and tail. I closed my eyes and reopened them. There could be no doubt about it, the animal was still there. My boy cowered in the grass whimpering.
I was shaken by the hunting-fever. My teeth rattled with fear. Three times I snapped; only one attempt came out well. Suddenly the monster vanished, with a remarkably rapid movement. It took me some time to recover. Alongside me the boy prayed and cried. I lifted him up, pushed him along and made him follow me home. On the way we had to transverse a big swamp. Progress was slow, for my limbs were still half-paralyzed with fear. There in the swamp, the huge lizard appeared once more, tearing lumps from a dead rhino. It was covered in ooze. I was only about 25 yards away.
It was simply terrifying. The boy had taken French leave, carrying the rifle with him. At first I was careful not to stir, then I thought of my camera. I could hear the crunching of rhino bones in the lizard’s mouth. Just as I clicked, it jumped into deep water.
The experience was too much for my nervous system. Completely exhausted, I sank down behind the bush that had given me shelter. Blackness reigned before my eyes. The animal’s phenomenally rapid motion was the most awe-inspiring thing I have ever seen.’
I must have looked like one demented, when at last I regained camp. Metcalfe, who is the boss there, said I approached him, waving the camera about in a silly way and emitting unintelligible sounds. I dare say I did. For eight days I lay in a fever, unconscious nearly all the time.’
This story presents problems due to inaccuracies. The hunter claims that “giant bull” elephants were in the jungle – yet forest elephants Loxodonta cyclones are smaller than the familiar elephant L. africana of the plains. A large bull L. africana would have great difficulty in jungle terrain (Though, considering the size of all elephants, it is reasonable that the Elephant could still have been described as large).
There is also the similarity between many aspects of these two stories: the single servant runs off; the creature eats a rhino; and both Johanson and Johnson faint. This suggests a single source for both stories.
It is perhaps notable that, of all crypt ids reported from Africa, this is the only one without a unique name in a local language. A carnivorous animal of this size would not have escaped a unique name by the local population.
Two photographs from the first two sightings are said to exist, each showing radical differences from the other. One shows a creature resembling a large monitor lizard. In this photograph, a white line surrounds the creature; it appears to be a cutout from a nature magazine. The other photograph depicts a Tyrannosaurus-like creature eating a rhinoceros.
1. Hodag
In 1893 newspapers reported the discovery of a Hodag in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. It had “the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with spears at the end”. The reports were instigated by well-known Wisconsin timber cruiser and prankster Eugene Shepard, who rounded up a group of local people to capture the animal. The group reported that they needed to use dynamite to kill the beast.
A photograph of the remains of the charred beast was released to the media. It was “the fiercest, strangest, most frightening monster ever to set razor sharp claws on the earth. It became extinct after its main food source, all white bulldogs, became scarce in the area.”
Shepard claimed to have captured another Hodag in 1896, and this one was captured alive. According to Shepard’s reports, he and several bear wrestlers placed chloroform on the end of a long pole, which they worked into the cave of the creature where it was overcome.
He displayed this Hodag at the first Oneida County fair. Thousands of people came to see the Hodag at the fair or at Shepard’s display in a shanty at his house. Having connected wires to it, Shepard would occasionally move the creature, which would typically send the already-skittish viewers fleeing the display.
As newspapers locally, statewide, and then nationally began picking up the story of the apparently remarkable, living creature, a small group of scientists from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.announced they would be traveling to Rhinelander to inspect the apparent discovery. Their mere announcement spelled the end, as Shepard was then forced to admit that the Hodag was a hoax.
