About Jackalope Square
Douglas has spent decades building a civic identity around an animal that does not exist. The jackalope combines the body of a jackrabbit with antlers, and in Douglas the creature appears on statues, signs, souvenirs, city imagery, and a downtown park appropriately named Jackalope Square.
The modern American jackalope craze traces strongly to Douglas in 1934. According to the city, brothers Douglas and Ralph Herrick returned from a rabbit hunt and noticed a jackrabbit carcass beside a pair of deer antlers in their taxidermy shop. They combined the two and began producing mounted jackalopes.
The joke spread. Douglas embraced its connection to the fabricated animal, eventually calling itself the Jackalope Capital and issuing novelty hunting licenses. The city even incorporates the creature into its official identity.
A large jackalope statue now sits in Jackalope Square downtown, while additional versions appear elsewhere around the community. The creature began as taxidermy humor and somehow evolved into municipal branding. Plenty of towns celebrate local wildlife. Douglas chose one that had to be assembled first.