Wait, that's not real?

[CalMeacham]

@GargoyleWB

Similarly, I didn’t realize until my early 20’s that Jackalopes weren’t real. My grandfather had a stuffed one and I really believed the story he spun of how he shot it while hunting, I just assumed they were another crazy midwest animal like armadillos or rattlesnakes.

Strictly speaking, Jackalopes aren’t real, but they may have been inspired by “horned hares”:

It is possible that the tales of jackalopes were inspired by sightings of rabbits infected with the Shope papilloma virus, which causes the growth of horn- and antler-like tumors in various places on the rabbit’s head and body.[2][3] This can occur in cottontail rabbits under natural conditions and in domestic rabbits under experimental conditions.[4] Systemic regression of warts occurs in a variable proportion of rabbits as a consequence of a specific cell-mediated immune response. Persistent warts may progress into invasive carcinomas. Progression into carcinomas is observed in approximately 25% of cottontail rabbits and in up to 75% of domestic rabbits with persistent warts.[4] However, the concept of an animal hybrid occurs in many cultures, for example as the griffin and the chimera. Indeed, the term chimera has become the categorical term for such composites within the English language.

Jackalope