Ah, the jackalope: proud interspecies love child of the jackrabbit and the antelope, and a popular post card image everywhere west of Kansas City.

Douglas, Wyoming, is the unofficial birthplace of the jackalope and the self-proclaimed Jackalope Capital of the World. The town erected the World's Largest Jackalope, eight feet tall, on a traffic island, only to see it fall to a wayward pickup truck in the early 1990s. A near-identical replacement was erected within the safety of the town's Jackalope Square, but its thinness and stiffness has left some locals unsatisfied. An even larger jackalope, 13 feet tall, was erected on a hill overlooking I-25 west of town, but it also failed to please everyone as it was only a black steel silhouette.

Now Douglas has a new Jackalope that everyone can be proud of -- the largest yet -- even if its origins are sketchy.

"The city bought it from some gentleman in Oregon or Washington," said Helga Bull, executive director of the Douglas Chamber of Commerce. "He didn't want it for some reason." Yes, what fool wouldn't want a giant jackalope?

Helga says that the new jackalope is "huge" and "maybe 15 feet tall," and that it dwarfs the skinny critter in Jackalope Square. It was covered in fur and outfitted with a saddle when it arrived in Douglas, but these have been removed. A "do not climb" sign has been placed next to it. Helga told us, with a reproachful tone, that the downtown jackalope has "perfect posture," while this new one is "a little slouchier," which she feels is more true to jaunty jackalope style.

Since Douglas seems fine with the idea of importing giant jackalopes, we told Helga about another furry, saddled, slightly smaller jackalope in Dubois, Wyoming -- part of a gas station that is reportedly for sale. Would Douglas be interested in buying that jackalope as well? Helga was excited. "I'll call their chamber of commerce," she said. "Thanks for the lead!"

Just doing our part to help preserve the nation's mutants.

[08/12/2007]