His name was Tom and he lived in Douglas, Wyoming. His owner was a man named Jim Herrick, who makes and sells jackalopes. Jim’s uncle, in fact, invented the jackalope in taxidermy. I ran into Jim one day while RVing through Douglas. He said he’d show me his jackalopes. So I went to his workshop.
Out front, I met Tom. He was a big turkey—not handsome, nothing special to look at. But he seemed friendly.
Jim showed me his taxidermy shop and a wall full of jackalopes. It was an impressive sight. Jackalopes, in case you do not know, are half jackrabbit and half antelope. They have antlers. Jackalopes are nocturnal, which is why you seldom see one in the wild. They generally show up only outside rural taverns late a night. They mate only during lightning storms. Males and females sing duets. People who have heard them say they sound like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.
But more about Tom the turkey. Jim told me he had a special talent. I asked what. “He belches,” Jim said. I didn’t believe him. But Jim showed me. He grabbed Tom, wrapped his arms around the bird’s chest, squeezed, and—wowie! Tom let loose with a belch the size of all Wyoming!
Jim told me more about Tom. Not only did he belch, but he also wanted to better himself. “Every day he walks to the bus stop with the kids when they go to school,” Jim said. “But every day, the driver leaves him behind.”
A few weeks later, I returned home from my trip. And I wrote an article about Tom. I wrote about his impressive baritone belch and his desire to get an education. It was just a little story. That’s what I thought.
In mid-November, my phone rang. It was the Tonight Show. “We want Tom on the show,” they said. “We want him to burp on Thanksgiving.” They asked if I could help them find the fowl. I said sure.
I called Jim. I asked about Tom. “He’s not here,” Jim said. “He’s dead.” I was stunned. The belching bird that wanted to go to school could not be dead! “He got hit by a car on the way back from the bus stop,” Jim explained. “Somebody ran over him on purpose.”
It was a sad day. I told The Tonight Show that Tom was unavailable to belch due to death.
And that was that.
MORE ESSAYS BY CHUCK:
- The day it rained whale blubber
- In the ’40s, ‘mobile car phones’ were only for bigwigs and the rich
- Trees: An RVer’s friend. An RVer’s foe
- Mystery solved: Car won’t start with vanilla ice cream around
- Do today. Don’t put off until tomorrow. It may not come
RVT1236
I grew up in Wyoming, and while I never met Tom or Jim, I was introduced to the Jackalope. I believe the Jackalope is, as the name implies, is a cross between a Jack rabbit and an Antelope. Modern lore has the jackalope is a cross between a Jack Rabbit and a (Mule?) deer. But wouldn’t that make it a “Jackadeer” or “Jackadoe?”
Yes, a jackalope is a cross between a jack rabbit and antelope. A good place to find one is at Wall Drug in South Dakota, where you can buy one (dead and stuffed) for your very own.