68-479: The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns. The word jackalope is a portmanteau of jackrabbit and antelope . Many jackalope taxidermy mounts, including the original, are made with deer antlers . In the 1930s, Douglas Herrick and his brother, hunters with taxidermy skills, popularized the American jackalope by grafting deer antlers onto
136-599: A 2014 Nebula Award . The psychonaut Terence McKenna claimed to have encountered a jackalope in the gardens of the Esalen Institute . Musicians have used the jackalope in various ways. R. Carlos Nakai , a Native American flute player, formerly belonged to a group called Jackalope. In the late 1980s, it performed what Nakai called "synthacousticpunkarachiNavajazz", which combined "improvisation, visual art, storytelling, dance and dramatic theatrical effects." Nakai said he wanted people to dream as they listened to
204-502: A cell. CRPV and BPV1 are found in the same location of the genome, which indicates that papillomaviruses likely have similar methods of replicating their genomes outside of a chromosome. A notable difference between the genomes of the four strains is that the E6 protein is almost twice as long in the CRPV as in any of the other strains of papillomaviruses. The E6 protein is somewhat homologous with
272-562: A family of ATP syntheses that are found in mitochondria of cattle. The homology is significant enough to imply an evolutionary relationship between E6 and the beta chain of the ATP synthase family; however, they do not have the same function or enzyme activity. The E2 protein overlaps with the E4 open reading frames in the other papillomaviruses. These differences in the E2 proteins likely determine how oncogenic
340-473: A fantastical approach. It seems the religious and moral implications of animals were far more significant than matching a physical likeness in these renderings. Nona C. Flores explains, "By the tenth century, artists were increasingly bound by allegorical interpretation, and abandoned naturalistic depictions." Shope papilloma virus The Shope papilloma virus ( SPV ), also known as cottontail rabbit papilloma virus ( CRPV ) or Kappapapillomavirus 2 ,
408-733: A jackrabbit carcass and selling the combination to a local hotel in Douglas, Wyoming . Thereafter, they made and sold many similar jackalopes to a retail outlet in South Dakota , and other taxidermists continue to manufacture the horned rabbits into the 21st century. Stuffed and mounted, jackalopes are found in many bars and other places in the United States; stores catering to tourists sell jackalope postcards and other paraphernalia, and commercial entities in America and elsewhere have used
476-403: A local community that seeks wider recognition. Through a combination of hoax and media activity, the town or other community draws attention to itself for social or economic reasons. A common adjunct to this activity involves the creation of an annual festival to perpetuate the town's association with the local legend. Gutowski finds evidence of what he calls the "protofestival" pattern throughout
544-517: A local hoax. The Hodag Festival in Rhinelander, Wisconsin , celebrates "discovery" of a prehistoric creature in a nearby pit. Willow Creek, California , hosts an annual Bigfoot Festival. Since 1950, Churubusco, Indiana , has celebrated Turtle Days, based on a story, part real and part invented, about the hunt for the Beast of Busco , a 500-pound (230 kg) snapping turtle said to be living in
612-460: A nearby lake. Common to these tales, Gutowski says, is the recurring motif of the quest for the mythical animal, often a monster. The same motif, he notes, appears in American novels such as Moby Dick and Old Man and the Sea and in monster movies such as King Kong and Jaws and in world literature such as Beowulf . The monster motif also appears in tales of contemporary places outside
680-432: A product, a personality, a town is beyond compare." Mythical animal A legendary creature (also called a mythical creature or mythological creature ) is a type of fantasy entity, typically a hybrid , that has not been proven and that is described in folklore (including myths and legends ), but may be featured in historical accounts before modernity . In the classical era , monstrous creatures such as
748-575: A rabbit with a single horn, like a unicorn . In Europe, the horned rabbit appeared in Medieval and Renaissance folklore in Bavaria (the wolpertinger ) and elsewhere. Natural history texts such as Historiae Naturalis de Quadrupetibus Libri ( The History Book of Natural Quadrupeds ) by Joannes Jonstonus (John Jonston) in the 17th century and illustrations such as Animalia Qvadrvpedia et Reptilia (Terra): Plate XLVII by Joris Hoefnagel (1522–1600) in
SECTION 10
#1732801499222816-412: A red and swollen area on the skin, followed by development of circular papilloma warts and keratinized horny warts. Although transmission between rabbits is high, the tumors themselves do not contain the infectious virus. 25% of Papilloma infections become malignant and form squamous cell carcinoma . Metastases can form in the lungs and lymph nodes, and if it advances further, can develop in the kidneys and
884-533: A scientific journal in 1933. Shope initially examined wild cottontail rabbits that had been shot by hunters in Iowa and later examined wild rabbits from Kansas . They had "numerous horn-like protuberances on the skin over various parts of their bodies. The animals were referred to popularly as 'horned' or 'warty' rabbits." Legends about horned rabbits also occur in Asia and Africa as well as Europe, and researchers suspect
952-515: A virus is. The noncoding region has a homologies with BPV1. Other homologies exist, such as the fact that all papillomaviruses have repeated sequences in the noncoding parts of their genomes. CRPV has some notable repeats, some as long as 32 base pairs. Many pairs up stream of the transcription locations are homologous with promoter sequences in of SV40. The papillomavirus life cycle begins with cells actively multiplying in epithelial cells of basal and parabasal layers. The differentiation of these cells
1020-413: Is a papillomavirus which infects certain leporids , causing keratinous carcinomas resembling horns , typically on or near the animal's head. The carcinomas can metastasize or become large enough to interfere with the host's ability to eat, causing starvation. Richard E. Shope investigated the horns and discovered the virus in 1933, an important breakthrough in the study of oncoviruses . The virus
1088-415: Is a portmanteau of jackrabbit and antelope . Jackrabbits are actually hares , rather than rabbits , though both are mammals in the family Leporidae . Wyoming is home to three species of hares, all in the genus Lepus . These are the black-tailed jackrabbit , the white-tailed jackrabbit , and the snowshoe hare . The nominal antelope is not any kind of true, Old World antelope , but actually
1156-504: Is a lack of specific data about the reproductive cycle of papillomaviruses. Research is not conclusive about which coding regions are expressed before or after replication of viral DNA. E1 is the largest open reading frame , which is the set of codons in the genome that code for proteins, encoding a 602-base protein. E1 is similar to COOH-terminal domain of the Simian virus 40, plays a role in viral DNA replication maintaining plasmids within
1224-740: Is an 8-foot (2.4 m) statue of a jackalope, and the town hosts an annual Jackalope Days Celebration in early June. Building on the Herrick's success, Frank English of Rapid City, South Dakota has made and sold many thousands of jackalopes since retiring from the Air Force in 1981. He is the only supplier of the altered animal heads to Cabela's , a major outdoor-theme retail company. His standard jackalopes and "world-record" jackalopes sell for about $ 150. In Man and Beast in American Comic Legend , folklorist Richard Dorson recounts
1292-501: Is necessary for this virus to complete its life cycle. Transforming proteins E6 and E7 induce the S-phase in the lower epithelial layers. Viral replication proteins E1 and E2 are also required to form the papilloma and keep the episomal viral genome replication low. Genome amplification will be restrained until viral replication proteins increase and several viral proteins are co-expressed. The infected, differentiating cells travel towards
1360-527: Is possible that they augment packaging and infectivity. Capsid proteins have been thought to also gather at the PML bodies during packaging. Transmission of the Papillomavirus requires release from the infected skin cell at the epithelial surface, as they are non-lytic. They are resistant to desiccation, enhancing their survivability during extracellular transfer between hosts. Cornified squame release from
1428-413: Is possibly because both of these viruses target the skin. From an evolutionary perspective, CRPV and HPV1a could have diverged recently, or they could have converged due to their similar target. CRPV is a member of the papillomaviruses so it is related to all viruses in this family. Infection of a rabbit's follicular cell often occurs in the ears, nose, eyelids, and the anus. The infection first appears as
SECTION 20
#17328014992221496-561: The Cyclops and the Minotaur appear in heroic tales for the protagonist to destroy. Other creatures, such as the unicorn , were claimed in accounts of natural history by various scholars of antiquity. Some legendary creatures originated in traditional mythology and were believed to be real creatures--for example, dragons , griffins and unicorns. Others are based on real encounters or garbled accounts of travellers' tales, such as
1564-538: The Holy Spirit , and the classical griffin represented a guardian of the dead. Medieval bestiaries included animals regardless of biological reality; the basilisk represented the devil , while the manticore symbolised temptation. One function of mythical animals in the Middle Ages was allegory . Unicorns, for example, were described as extraordinarily swift and uncatchable by traditional methods. It
1632-559: The Hydra to be killed by Heracles , while Aeneas battles with the harpies . These monsters thus have the basic function of emphasizing the greatness of the heroes involved. Some classical era creatures, such as the (horse/human) centaur , chimaera , Triton and the flying horse Pegasus , are found also in Indian art . Similarly, sphinxes appear as winged lions in Indian art and
1700-525: The Mesoamerican period of the Aztecs , as twins, brothers, even the sun and moon. The New York Times attributes the American jackalope's origin to a 1932 hunting outing involving Douglas Herrick (1920–2003) of Douglas, Wyoming . Herrick and his brother had studied taxidermy by mail order as teenagers, and when the brothers returned from a hunting trip for jackrabbits, Herrick tossed a carcass into
1768-458: The Piasa Bird of North America. In medieval art , animals, both real and mythical, played important roles. These included decorative forms as in medieval jewellery, sometimes with their limbs intricately interlaced. Animal forms were used to add humor or majesty to objects. In Christian art , animals carried symbolic meanings, where for example the lamb symbolized Christ, a dove indicated
1836-651: The Star Trek universe, the "bunnicorn" of Planet Nepenthe resembles a jackalope, and can be briefly seen in the seventh episode of Star Trek: Picard season one , released in 2020. Jackalopes have appeared in video games. In Red Dead Redemption , the player is able to hunt and skin jackalopes. Jackalopes are part of the action in Guild Wars 2 . A low-budget jackalope mockumentary , Stagbunny , aired in Casper and Douglas in 2006. The movie included interviews with
1904-557: The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary , a sheeplike animal which supposedly grew tethered to the earth. A variety of mythical animals appear in the art and stories of the classical era . For example, in the Odyssey , monstrous creatures include the Cyclops , Scylla and Charybdis for the hero Odysseus to confront. Other tales include Medusa to be defeated by Perseus , the (human/bull) Minotaur to be destroyed by Theseus , and
1972-572: The WorldCat listings of early 2015 produced 225 hits, including 57 for books. Among them is Juan and the Jackalope: A Children's Book in Verse by Rudolfo Anaya . The WorldCat summary of Anaya's book says: "Competing for the hand of the lovely Rosita and her rhubarb pie, Juan rides a Jackalope in a race against Pecos Bill ." A short story, "Jackalope Wives" by Ursula Vernon , has been nominated for
2040-490: The jackalope , a rabbit with the horns of an antelope , and related cryptids such as the wolpertinger . Stories and illustrations of horned rabbits appear in scientific treatises dating back many years, such as the Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique , from 1655. The reports led cancer researcher Richard E. Shope to investigate, culminating in the virus officially being discovered and named in 1933. Shope determined
2108-563: The pronghorn or American antelope ( Antilocapra americana ), which is more closely related to the giraffe . Some of the largest herds of wild pronghorns, which are found only in western North America, are in Wyoming. The adults grow to about 3 feet (1 m) tall, weigh up to 150 pounds (68 kg), and can run at sustained speeds approaching 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Stories or descriptions of animal hybrids have appeared in many cultures worldwide. A 13th-century Persian work depicts
Jackalope - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-475: The 16th century included the horned hare. These early scientific texts described and illustrated the hybrids as though they were real creatures, but by the end of the 18th century scientists generally rejected the idea of horned hares as a biological species. References to horned rabbits may originate in sightings of rabbits affected by the Shope papilloma virus , named for Richard E. Shope, M.D., who described it in
2244-417: The 1990s, a jackalope named "Jack Ching Bada Bing" was a recurring character in a series of sketches on the television shows America's Funniest Home Videos and America's Funniest People . The show's host, Dave Coulier , voiced the rascally hybrid. In 2003, Pixar featured a jackalope in the short animation Boundin' . The jackalope gave helpful advice to a lamb who was feeling sad after being shorn. In
2312-776: The Douglas variant but also an alternative that will "surely infuriate the residents of Douglas...". According to Dorson, in Mythical Creatures of the North Country (1969), historian Walker D. Wyman acknowledged the existence of what he called the Alkali Area Jackalope of the western United States. However, he expressed doubt that it predated the Jack-pine Jackalope of Minnesota and Wisconsin , "a mythological throwback that defies even
2380-536: The United States, such as Scotland, with its Loch Ness Monster . What is not global, Gutowski says, is the embrace of local monster tales by American communities that put them to use through "public relations hoaxes, boisterous boosterism, and [a] carnival atmosphere... ". Folklorist Richard M. Dorson also cites the " booster impulse, mingled with entrepreneurial hoaxing" as the way that Douglas with its jackalope, Churubusco with its giant turtle, and other towns with their own local legends rise above anonymity. He traces
2448-435: The United States. The jackalope is subject to many outlandish and largely tongue-in-cheek claims embedded in tall tales about its habits. Jackalopes are said to be so dangerous that hunters are advised to wear stovepipes on their legs to keep from being gored. Stores in Douglas sell jackalope milk, but The New York Times questions its authenticity on grounds that milking a jackalope is known to be fraught with risk. One of
2516-552: The United States. In addition to the jackalope, his examples include the sea serpent of Nantucket , which in 1937 led to "stories of armadas hunting the monster, and footprint discoveries by local businessmen", accompanied by wide publicity. In similar fashion, Newport, Arkansas , publicized its White River Monster , and Algiers, Louisiana , claimed to be home to a flying Devil Man. Ware, Massachusetts , drew media attention to its local reputation for alligator sightings. Perry, New York , held Silver Lake Sea Serpent Festivals based on
2584-510: The act difficult despite the hare's reputation for fertility. In 2005, the legislature of Wyoming considered a bill to make the jackalope the state's official mythological creature. It passed the House by a 45–12 margin, but the session ended before the Senate could take up the bill, which died. In 2013, following the death of the bill's sponsor, Dave Edwards , the state legislature reintroduced
2652-641: The bill. It again passed the House but died in the rules committee of the Senate. In 2015, three state representatives put forth the jackalope proposal again, this time as House Bill 66, and again it passed the House but died in a Senate committee. One of the co-sponsors, Dan Zwonitzer, said, "I’ll keep bringing it back until it passes." In 2014, the Wyoming Lottery adopted a jackalope logo for its lottery tickets and marketing materials. Lottery officials chose
2720-458: The changes induced by the virus might underlie at least some of those tales. In Central America , mythological references to a horned rabbit creature can be found in Huichol legends. The Huichol oral tradition has passed down tales of a horned rabbit and of the deer getting horns from the rabbit. The rabbit and deer were paired, though not combined as a hybrid, as day signs in the calendar of
2788-469: The epithelial surface during the viral cycle's late stage. In the upper epithelial layers, the promoter activity is altered during the virus’ production. E4 proteins are expressed, and viral DNA amplification starts in the differentiated cells. Following this, the L1 and L2 viral capsid proteins are expressed, and the infectious virions begin to assemble. Expression of the papillomavirus E4 protein correlates with
Jackalope - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-544: The fictitious animal, which they named YoLo , over the bucking horse and other state symbols. Since Herrick and his brother began selling manipulated taxidermy heads in the 1930s, such trophies, as well as jackalope postcards and related gift-shop items, can be found in many places beyond Douglas. The student magazine of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design in New Mexico is called The Jackalope . On
2924-505: The formation of a new, abnormal growth of tissue. The virus was sequenced in 1984, showing substantial sequence similarities to HPV1a . It has been used as a model for human papillomaviruses both before and after this discovery. The most visible example of this role is the HPV vaccine , which was developed based on and incorporating research done using the virus as a model. Similarly, it has been used to investigate antiviral therapies. There
2992-531: The growth occurs simultaneously at several different centers, causing the surrounding tissue to bulge from the growth's lateral pressure. The normal epithelium abruptly transitions into a narrow zone of rapidly thickening epithelial layers, made up of rapidly multiplying cells. Rabbits re-infected with the virus exhibit some or complete immunity, and can transmit the virus to other wild rabbits, and from wild to domestic rabbits. A domestic strain cannot transmit it to another domestic rabbit, however. Immunologically,
3060-561: The horn of a unicorn." This is because the translators of the King James erroneously translated the Hebrew word re'em as unicorn. Later versions translate this as wild ox. The unicorn's small size signifies the humility of Christ. Another common legendary creature that served allegorical functions within the Middle Ages was the dragon . Dragons were identified with serpents, though their attributes were greatly intensified. The dragon
3128-517: The impulse and the methods to the promotional literature of colonial times that depicted North America as an earthly paradise. Much later, in the 19th century, settlers transferred that optimistic vision to the American West , where it culminated in "boosterism". Although other capitalist countries advertise their products, Dorson says, "...the intensity of the American ethos in advertising, huckstering, attention-getting, media-manipulating to sell
3196-479: The liver. Rabbit Papilloma displays tropism for the cutaneous epithelium. Warts are made up of nearly homogenous vertical tissue strands. Their outer coloration is typically black or greyish, and cut sections are usually white or pinkish white with a flesh-like center. Dark coloration is due to abundant melanin pigment. The warts are made up of several tight, branching, threadlike epidermis processes connected by narrow tissue cores. These growth structures indicate that
3264-457: The most competent biologists of the region." Wyman claimed there were three known specimens of this primary jackalope—in Augusta in west-central Wisconsin; Cornucopia , along the south shore of Lake Superior ; and in a north shore museum and lumber camp — all "presumably shot by careless hunters during the deer season." In a 1978 revision and expansion of his book, which includes material on
3332-427: The music. Jakalope is a Canadian alternative pop/rock group formed in 2003 by Dave "Rave" Ogilvie . The band Miike Snow uses the jackalope as its logo. Band member Andrew Wyatt said during an interview in 2012 that the logo was meant to signify experiment and adventure. Of the 225 Worldcat hits resulting from a search for "jackalope", 95 were related to music. Jackalopes have appeared in movies and on television. In
3400-746: The onset of viral DNA amplification. Using a mutant cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (SPV) genome incapable of expressing the viral E4 protein, it has been shown that E4 is required for the productive stage of the SPV life cycle in New Zealand White and cottontail rabbits. The virus particles are assembled in the upper epithelium. The virus capsomere icosahedral shell is packaged with an 8000 base pair genome, 360 L1 protein copies, and 12 copies of L2 proteins inside. L2 proteins gather at PML body nuclear structures and recruit L1 proteins during virus assemblage. L2 proteins are not necessary for assemblage, but it
3468-542: The other side of the world, The Hop Factory craft beer cafe in Newcastle , Australia , uses a leaping jackalope as its logo. In 1986, James Abdnor , a senator from South Dakota, gave U.S. president Ronald Reagan a stuffed jackalope (rabbit head with antlers) during a presidential campaign stop in Rapid City. Many books, including a large number written for children, feature the jackalope. A search for "jackalope" in
SECTION 50
#17328014992223536-746: The owner of a Douglas sporting goods store who claimed to harbor a live jackalope on his premises and with a paleontologist who explained the natural history of the jackalope and its place in the fossil record. Beginning in 1997, the Central Hockey League included a team called the Odessa Jackalopes . The team joined the South Division of the North American Hockey League before the 2011–12 season. An Odessa sports writer expressed concern about
3604-415: The protrusions were keratinous carcinomas due to the infection of CRPV. Shope's research led to the development of the first mammalian model of cancer caused by a virus. He was able to isolate virus particles from tumors on captured animals and use them to inoculate domestic rabbits, which then developed similar tumors. This has contributed to our understanding of fundamental mechanisms in neoplasia , or
3672-489: The relative growth of the papillomas, but in cases where there was excesses of vitamin A Shope papillomas were inhibited. Therefore, when SPV infects a host, vitamin A plays an important role in the host/virus interactions. Fluorescent antibody study identified the locations of viral antigens in wild rabbit papillomas. They were present only in the nucleus of keratohyaline and keratinized layer cells, and not deeper down in proliferating epithelial cells. In domesticated rabbits,
3740-513: The rubberado porcupine, the snoligoster , the three-tailed bavalorus, the squonk , and many other creatures, Wyman devotes four pages to the jackalope. In a turnabout from his earlier claims of a North Country origin for the antlered hare, he says, "The center of its vast range seems to be Wyoming." Evidence of wide dispersal of Lepus antilocapra wyomingensis from its original range, he claims, are labels such as "Tioga, Pennsylvania," and "Hongkong" stamped on mounted jackalope heads in barrooms across
3808-405: The surface of epithelial cells may also contribute to their survival. Immune detection of the virus in the host may also be hindered by antigen retention until the virus reaches upper epithelial cells. When Richard E. Shope began his research on SPV, little was known about the natural transmission of the virus vectors and interactions of the virus on its hosts. In the lab setting, Shope worked with
3876-697: The tales of horned hares were inspired by sightings of rabbits infected with the Shope papilloma virus . It causes horn- and antler-like tumors to grow in various places on a rabbit's head and body. Folklorists see the jackalope as one of a group of tall tale animals, known as fearsome critters , common to North American culture since the turn of the twentieth century. These fabulous beasts appear in tall tales featuring hodags , giant snakes, fur-bearing trout , and many others. Some such stories lend themselves to comic hoaxing by entrepreneurs who seek attention for their own personal or their region's fortune. Jackalope
3944-818: The taxidermy store, where it came to rest beside a pair of deer antlers. The accidental combination of animal forms sparked Herrick's idea for a jackalope. The first jackalope the brothers put together was sold for $ 10 to Roy Ball, who displayed it in Douglas' La Bonte Hotel. The mounted head was stolen in 1977. The jackalope became a popular local attraction in Douglas, where the Chamber of Commerce issues Jackalope Hunting Licenses to tourists. The tags are good for hunting during official jackalope season, which occurs for only one day: June 31 (a nonexistent date as June has 30 days), from midnight to 2 a.m. The hunter must have an IQ greater than 50 but not over 72. Thousands of "licenses" have been issued. In Herrick's home town of Douglas, there
4012-547: The team's name, which he found insufficiently intimidating and which sounded like "something you might eat for breakfast." Jackalope Brewing Company, the first commercial brewery in Tennessee founded by women, opened in Nashville in 2011. Its craft beers include Thunder Ann, Sarka, Fennario, Bearwalker, and Lovebird. Folklorist John A. Gutowski sees in the Douglas jackalope an example of an American tall tale publicized by
4080-457: The viral antigens were present in much smaller quantity in only superficial, keratinized layers. The investigation proposed that the virus is only present in proliferating cell nuclei during early development, containing a deficient number of proteins and mostly nucleic acid. The proteins may be immunologically specific in order to keep its transmissibility, making it a masked virus. Most homologous papillomaviruses are actually CRPV and HPV1a. This
4148-537: The virus through parasites such as rabbit ticks. When infected with SPV, hosts develop papillomas on hair-bearing skin, usually around the face and neck. Shope found through his research that rabbit epidermal cell transformation by SPV requires interaction with mesenchymal cells. It was further found that mesenchymal types support papillomatous transformation. Shope's research also investigated how vitamin A deficiencies or excess might affect host susceptibility to SPV. Shope found that deficiencies in vitamin A did not affect
SECTION 60
#17328014992224216-522: The virus’ natural host, the cottontail rabbit. Particularly, he worked with the cottontails of Iowa and other western states of the United States. He worked with these species because it was discovered that SPV had a restricted geographic range and was confined to the high plains of the western United States. Therefore, the major host species of SPV is the cottontail rabbit of the western United States. Cottontail rabbits in Shope's lab usually were infected with
4284-519: The ways to catch a jackalope is to entice it with whiskey, the jackalope's beverage of choice. The jackalope can imitate the human voice, according to legend. During the days of the Old West , when cowboys gathered by the campfires singing at night, jackalopes could be heard mimicking their voices or singing along, usually as a tenor . It is said that jackalopes, the rare Lepus antilocapra , breed only during lightning flashes and that their antlers make
4352-532: The word jackalope or a jackalope logo as part of their marketing strategies. The jackalope has appeared in published stories, poems, television shows, video games, and a low-budget mockumentary film. The Wyoming Legislature has considered bills to make the jackalope the state's official mythological creature. The underlying legend of the jackalope, upon which the Wyoming taxidermists were building, may be related to similar stories in other cultures and other historical times. Researchers suggest that at least some of
4420-440: Was always heat present in these locations. Physical detail was not the central focus of the artists depicting such animals, and medieval bestiaries were not conceived as biological categorizations. Creatures like the unicorn and griffin were not categorized in a separate "mythological" section in medieval bestiaries, as the symbolic implications were of primary importance. Animals we know to have existed were still presented with
4488-480: Was believed that the only way for one to catch this beast was to lead a virgin to its dwelling. Then, the unicorn was supposed to leap into her lap and go to sleep, at which point a hunter could finally capture it. In terms of symbolism, the unicorn was a metaphor for Christ. Unicorns represented the idea of innocence and purity. In the King James Bible , Psalm 92 :10 states, "My horn shalt thou exalt like
4556-487: Was originally discovered in cottontail rabbits in the Midwestern U.S. but can also infect brush rabbits , black-tailed jackrabbits , snowshoe hares , European rabbits , and domestic rabbits . In the 1930s, hunters in northwestern Iowa reported that the rabbits they shot had several "horn" protrusions on many parts of their bodies including their faces and necks. The virus is also a possible source of myths about
4624-417: Was supposed to have been larger than all other animals. It was believed that the dragon had no harmful poison but was able to slay anything it embraced without any need for venom. Biblical scriptures speak of the dragon in reference to the devil, and they were used to denote sin in general during the Middle Ages. Dragons were said to have dwelled in places like Ethiopia and India, based on the idea that there
#221778