Former World's Largest Jackalope
Douglas, Wyoming
The Jackalope, a furry freak found in tourist trap gift shops throughout the American West, was born in Douglas -- stitched together in 1939 by Douglas Herrick, a local taxidermist. Douglas proudly proclaims itself "Home of the Jackalope" and celebrates with Jackalope imagery on billboards, hotel signs, and a park bench in front of the police department.
The best tribute of all is a concrete Jackalope statue in the heart of downtown, eight feet tall, easily the world's largest.
Impressive, you say? Not for a Big Sky community like Douglas, which now wants to build an 80-foot-tall fiberglass Jackalope out by I-25. The hope is that this new behemoth won't have to be taken into the town's maintenance garage and repainted every two years, as is the current one.
In 2005, Wyoming legislators declared the Jackalope as the state's "Official Mythical Creature." There's been discussion that the bill might allow Wyoming to "protect" the Jackalope as a legal trademark.
In 2007, Douglas added another Jackalope figure to its self-promotion juggernaut -- one with a saddle.