Lee, O.B. 1965, South Dakota Conservation Digest, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, XXXII:24.
A REAL, LIVE "COTTON-LOPE"
When young Kenneth Light of Pierre 
popped into our Education office and asked if anyone could tell him anything about rabbits with horns, skeptical eyebrows were immediaetly raised. Office staffers wondered how to tell the young man that there really isn't any such thing as a "Jack-A-Lope." Everyone naturally rhought the lad had been taken in by one of the occasional jokesters who has a taxidermist mount horns onto a big jackrabbit.
Kenneth immediately relieved the tension, however, by quickly pointing out that he had long since been acquainted with the phony horned rabbit concoctions. But what he was talking about, he patiently explained, was the real thing - and if anyone doubted it, they could take a look at the dead rabbit which he had in his car parked out front.
Pictures can lie, of course, and if you don't believe your eyes, we won't blame you. But we could hardly let this one go without passing it on to our readers, even at the risk of being chuckled at for being taken by a high-schooler.
The "horns" were apparently composed primarily of hair, and were hard, although not nearly as hard surfaced as horns of antlers of the authentic type. They were carefully examined by Department biologists, and were subsequently cut from the rabbit's head and sent to the Zoology Department at South Dakota State University for cross-section examination. It is not known what causes such abnormal growths on animals.
Kenneth shot his "funny bunny" while hunting rabbits with a shotgun along the Bad River road outside of Pierre last May."
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John O'Sullivan, Forest and Stream, April, 1917, page 162.
ENTER THE WAR BUNNY. He wanted so much to be born a billy goat that Nature gave him horns.
Of course you have heard of war babies? Well, did you ever hear of or see a war rabbit? This specimen of the bunny brigade has the sportsmen of Nebraska not only up a tree, but some of them actually fell off - the water wagon. Many 
there were who doubted the genuineness of the queer looking horns, but the writer happened to be the taxidermist selected to mount the head, and when he skinned down to the roots of the horns, no doubt was left about it. The horns were securely and naturally fastened to the rabbit's skull. Jim Brennan, a rancher living on the Red Bird River, north of O'Neill, Nebraska, trapped the specimen. He noticed the horns as soon as he examined it, but took them to be frozen fur. Upon looking closer, however, he saw that the horns were real prongs of bone, so he took the head to town and had the writer mount it. The large horn is two inches in length, and a cluster of five small ones are to be seen close to one of the ears. The large one shows signs of having been used in either combat or digging burrows, which has inclined superstitious people who have seen it to the theory that the appearance of "armed" rabbits indicates that America is destined shortly to enter the arena of war. The horns are very hard and closely resemble those of a deer. The large one is as large as your little finger at the butt. All are symmetrical and seem to have been placed there for some purpose. The owner values the specimen at $200, and has offered a cool thousand for one like it brought in alive. Hunters are planning on combing the Red Bird as soon as the weather moderates, with the hope of unearthing more of the horned phenomena and perhaps other as yet undiscovered specimens that are already girding themselves up with armor. Forest and Stream would be glad to hear of any success they meet with in their campaign.
WHERE "WAR BUNNIES" THRIVE IN THE LONE STAR STATE, HORNED RABBITS ARE SO COMMON NOBODY TAKES THEIR PICTURES
To the Editor, Forest and Stream (June, 1917):
Here is a little information regarding the "horned bunnies" as we know them in Texas.
I have always considered the growth on these rabbits as a disease, which is most noticed during a droughty season, and understand that they shed their horns he same as deer; at least this has been my observation. This is the time of the year they are due to shed them. This may sound strange, but to us they are common. We never eat them, and although we have remarked about it in a scientific way, we have never preserved a specimen, nor have we any photos. Rabbits are a pest in this state, and for one to take a photo of them would bring down on him at least comments of "gross indiscretions," I fear.
I have personally killed as many as three specimens with horns in a single afternoon. We find that sometimes they will have clusters of them, ranging from around the ears so low as to be on the abdomen.
We have heard from Mr. O'Sullivan (who contributed the original article on the "war bunny" to the April Forest and Stream) and he states that the gentleman offering the $1,000 for a live specimen is now dead. We are sending him a copy of his letter.
At my earliest opportunity, I shall be pleased to secure a photo, but I am unable to promise when this will be, as I am now head over heels in work and have not the time to devote to this, as I would like to for the purpose of trying to enlighten anyone who might be interested.
I have communicated with a physician and scientist in this city, Dr. R. Menger, a personal friend, and give you herewith his opinion on the subject, which coincides with mine.
"Horn-like excrescences and horny protuberances are occasionally met with in the prairie rabbit, and in particular the smaller cotton-tail rabbit. I have often met such affected rabbits during hunting trips, especially in or around cotton-fields and in cactus thickets. The horny growths are generally situated on one or both ears and the nose, and seemingly originate from some pathological condition or hypertrophy of the cuticular and cartilaginous tissue. Occasionally also such horny growths are seen on or between the rabbit's toes. As to the primary cause I have no data or personal observations, but believe they are of local and by all probability of parasitic origin. In some instances it seemed as if the constant irritation from minute cactus thorns implanted in the rabbit's cuticle caused such irritation as horny growth, but in most instances no such implanted horns could be seen, and the hard protuberances were undoubtedly caused from the secretion of some parasitic insect which irritated and inflamed this cuticular tissue, which gradually developed into this hornlike excrescence. Occasionally also similar singular or multiple small and wart-like excrescences are noticed in other parts of the rabbit's anatomy, especially along the abdominal integuments, which would also lead to the suspicion that they are primarily caused by some parasitic irritation of the cutis."
It might be interesting to ascertain the climatic and other conditions at the time the Nebraska specimen was trapped: dry or wet; rocky region and in barren grounds, or in heavy foliage with food abundant.
I shall be pleased to answer any further questions on this subject from anyone who is interested.
Geo. C. Shupee, State Deputy, Game, Fish and Oyster Commissioner, San Antonio, Texas
HERE'S ONE DOUBLY ARMORED
To the Editor, Forest and Stream (July, 1917):
I note the item concerning the "war bunny" in your issue of April and enclose a print of one killed in Oklahoma last December. This cottontail has four distinct "horns," the largest being 2-1/2 inches long and the shortest 1/2 inch. I have the head mounted and it excites much interest.
Local sportsmen claim to have seen these rabbits with horns before, but I have lived here thirty years and this is my first one.
Guy W. von Schriltz, Coldwater, Kan.
MUSEUM IS SEEKING GREAT HORNED RABBIT, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sunday, January 15, 1989.
KANSAS CITY (Reuter) - In the forests, fields and prairies of the Midwest, the search is on for the great horned rabbit. Some may dismiss the horned rabbit, or "jackalope," as the mere fantasy of cowboys who spent too long on the range. But the skeptics are wrong. Horned rabbits, or at least rabbits that appear to have horns, do exist, says Ruth Gennrich of the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. The museum is asking for help in finding specimens. "A lot of farmers (over the years) have said they have seen them," Gennrich said. "It's rare and relatively grotesque."
While jackalopes produced by whimsical or enterprising taxidermists are jackrabbits adorned with horns of a year-old deer, nature's jackalopes are rabbits afflicted with a virus that produces large warts that can grow to resemble horns. "There's endless mythology around jackalopes in the West," Gennrich said. "Something about them singing with the cowboys at night under a full moon, and when the cowboys stopped singing, so did the jackalopes."
But the reality isn't so pretty, as real horned rabbits grow giant warts from any parts of their bodies, and the warts can turn cancerous and kill them, she said. Called Shopes papilloma DNA, the virus is spread by fleas or ticks. It is not transmittible to humans from rabbits, said museum authorities. Afflicted rabbits have been found in Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Minnesota. The most recent sightings were in Minnesota, Gennrich said.
The museum, situated in Lawrence, Kansas, is asking hunters who happen to find a horned rabbit or road travelers who find a rabbit whose path crossed that of a vehicle to turn in their specimens. The museum can't pay for a deceased rabbit but will pay shipping costs. "If we get just one, we'll be very pleased, but it would be interesting to find out what the incidence of this is," Gennrich said.
Gennrich said the museum would use any rabbits from the search for a traveling exhibit. "The main purpose in doing the exhibit is to bring out the point thatalmost all our folk tales have some kind of basis in fact," she said.
The museum has three horned rabbits in a specimen mount - flattened out for scientific study and unsuitable for a traveling exhibit. One of the flattened rabbits has warts that look like a handlebar mustache, she said.
Note added by Chuck Holliday: The Museum finally got a good specimen to mount - it's shown on the right. My thanks to Heather York for the picture.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE JACKALOPE EXHIBIT EXPLORES FACTS BEHIND HOAX, The Wichita Eagle, Saturday, August 11, 1990.
Pictures of jackrabbits with deer or antelope horns attached, like the one above, are a favorite of postcard buyers. A real rabbit, left, can develop a benign skin growth that sometimes resembles horns or beards.
Probably every newcomer to Kansas has laughed at those silly postcards of a cowboy riding a jackalope one of those gigantic horned rabbits that inhabit the Great Plains. But the jackalope myth is one that spreads far beyond the prairie there are horned rabbit myths in central Europe and Africa as well.
An exhibit of jackalopes and their lore is on display at the Wichita Art Museum. But the best example of a jackalope is not on view; it sits in Joy Lewis' office down the hall from the exhibit. It's a stuffed rabbit equipped with wings, pheasant tail feathers and duck feet and horns. It's too big to fit in the display cases, so it has been pulled from the show.
''Jackalopes: History of a Hoax" does have a couple of less-flamboyant representations of the mythical cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope. But, exhibit organizers say, there is evidence that the jackalope myth evolved out of a very real virus that infects cottontail rabbits in the wild.
The jackalope myth is as indigenous to the Great Plains as the Loch Ness monster is to Scotland. Douglas, Wyo., has proclaimed itself jackalope capital of the world and issues jackalope hunting licenses. The furred, horned creatures also appear on postcards (alongside the furred trout) in roadside diners throughout the Plains, sometimes represented as large enough to be saddled and ridden.
At the same time, the horned rabbit occurs in legend in Central Europe and in Asia. The reason for that, say researchers at the Museum of Natural History at the University of Kansas, is that a particular virus attacks rabbits in all three regions. The virus, Shope's papilloma DNA, was first explained in the Journal of Experimental Medicine by biologists Richard E. Shope and W.W. Hurst in1933. Cottontail rabbits had been found with benign skin growths that sometimes resembled horns or beards. The rabbits have long fascinated naturalists and taxidermists. Once the jackalope legend had spread, taxidermists had great fun attaching the horns of pronghorn antelope or white-tailed or mule deer to the bodies of jackrabbits.
The exhibit includes one "jackalope" and one virus-infected cottontail, along with photographs and memorabilia of the phenomenon. Museum curator Novelene Ross also has doctored a couple of regional prints of Kansas to include jackalope images. ''The thing came about kind of as a fluke," said Tom Swearingen, a member of the staff at KU's Museum of Natural History. The museum originated the show, which now is traveling to various Kansas museums as part of the Traveling Visual Arts Program.
The staff has long been interested in jackalope myths around the world. When a taxidermist brought in a rabbit infected with the Shope's virus, the fascination coalesced into an exhibit. The virus, Swearingen said, is "not really rare. A lot of times people don't know what they're seeing."
Mark Miller, district wildlife biologist for the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Department in Wichita, confirmed that such a virus exists in cottontail rabbits, although he said he's never seen an infected animal.
The virus is transmitted through saliva. ''It gets into a community of rabbits and can live on for a long time," Swearingen said. The virus seldom kills the rabbit, the growths typically fall off when the rabbit sheds its hair, and the animal usually is immune to further infections.
The KU team also collects jackalope myths. Swearingen's favorites are two African stories, one in which the rabbit wants to fit in with the other horned animals and makes himself a pair of wax horns, which melted when he sat by the fire. The other legend has a rabbit loaning his horns to a deer and then never being fast enough to catch the deer and get his horns back.
THE GREAT DIVIDE, The Denver Post, September 15, 1996, by Tom Noel.
You hardly ever see jackalopes in the wild anymore, but they can still be found in a few old taverns, usually on a wall with other stuffed critters.
Jackalopes? Let me try to explain. Mammals do strange things. Imagine a lonely jack rabbit impregnating an antelope. Or was it the other way around? At any rate, the jackalope is supposed to be a cross between the jack rabbit and the antelope, technically a pronghorn. It is difficult to be precise, as the species is so rare that even the Denver Museum of Natural History lacks a specimen.
Jackalopes were a specialty of Red Fenwick, who wrote a Ridin' the Range column for The Denver Post for years. Fenwick was an expert on the beasts that apparently originated in his hometown of Douglas, Wyo., where a large jackalope sits smack in the middle of Main Street. Pete Smythe tells me that it may have been his old sidekick Fenwick, rather than a jack rabbit and antelope, who created the jackalope. While other mammals prefer a full moon, Fenwick claimed that jackalopes mate only during nocturnal lightning flashes.
The jackalope, according to Red Fenwick's West, is "perhaps the rarest animal in North America. Were it not for the horns, it might be mistaken for a large jack rabbit. An odd trait of the jackalope is its ability to imitate the human voice. Cowboys singing to their herds at night have been startled to hear their lonesome melodies repeated faithfully from some nearby hillside."
Mark Twain, in "Roughing It," described half of this beast: "The 'jackass rabbit' ... is just like any other rabbit, except that he is from one third to twice as large, has longer legs in proportion to his size, and has the most preposterous ears that were ever mounted on any creature but a jackass. When he is sitting quiet, thinking about his sins his majestic ears project above him conspicuously; but the breaking of a twig will scare him nearly to death, and then he tilts his ears back gently and starts for home at a speed which can only be described as a flash and a vanish! Long after he was out of sight we could hear him whiz."
As you can see from Twain, even the fastest antelope would have a hard time outracing an amorous jack rabbit. Out there in the remoter reaches of the Rocky Mountain Empire, you may see jackalopes in the wild. Even here on the Front Range, I've spotted a few this summer. The Buckhorn Exchange Restaurant, at 1000 Osage St. in Denver, has an albino jackalope on display.
Jackalopes, understandably, have been a little confused about the biblical command to go forth and multiply. This has led to other creatures such as the jackapanda. You can see the jackapanda for yourself - a cross between a jackalope and a panda bear - mounted on the back bar of the Tres Hombres Tex-Mex Cantina in Woodland Park.
Strangest of all is the jackapheasant. I encountered it just last month in Fort Collins, in the Northern Hotel Bar on the tattered fringes of Old Town. On a counter only 10 feet from my bar stool I saw this juvenile jackapheasant - a cross between a jackalope and one of those Chinese pheasants descended from those liberated from the Denver Zoo years ago.
If you have never seen a jackalope or any of its zany offspring, your chance comes next weekend. The Colorado History Group, an informal group of curious Coloradans, will be stalking jackalopes on its tour of Fort Collins' Old Town on Saturday. Local historians Joan Day, Liston Leyendecker and Wayne Suniberg will join the group, which will take a ride on the Fort Collins Municipal Railway and listen to talks on writer Isabella Bird and the Griffith boys, who founded Georgetown.
Next Sunday, the history group will stage a trip to Virginia Dale Stage Station for a meeting with Mark Twain (Dale Crawford) and the pioneer stage stop operators Jack Blade (Mike Kelly) and Virginia Dale (Lynn Kelly), the lady who tried to tame Slade, the deadliest of Colorado's bad guys. The Overland Stage Co. hired Slade to manage the Virginia Dale Stage Station to keep him from robbing it. Mark Twain spent the night at Virgina Dale and reported in "Roughing It" that Slade was feared in these parts "a great deal more than the Almighty."
On the carpool caravan up to the Virginia Dale Stage Station, we hope to see jackalopes - or at least their tracks - as well as Indian tepee rings, Overland Trail ruts, Signature Rock and the buffalo jump on the Roberts Ranch. For information, call Sue Sethney at the CU-Denver History Department, 556-4830. Tom Noel teaches local and regional history at CU-Denver and collects jackalopiana.