Hodag — Cryptid Encyclopedia

In 1893, Rhinelander, Wisconsin timber cruiser Eugene Shepard announced a stunning discovery: he had captured a creature in the forests of northern Wisconsin unlike anything science had ever documented. He called it the Hodag — and he had photographs to prove it.

The Hodag, as Shepard described it, was roughly seven feet long, with the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set with enormous claws, a ridge of sharp horns and spines running down its back and tail, and two horns on its forehead. It smelled like a combination of buzzard meat and skunk perfume. Its diet consisted exclusively of white bulldogs and mud turtles.

Shepard exhibited the captured Hodag at the first Oneida County Fair, where crowds lined up to view the creature through a dimly lit tent. Spectators were thrilled and terrified. The story made national news. A Smithsonian Institution team was reportedly dispatched to investigate.

Shepard eventually admitted the whole thing was an elaborate hoax — the "captured" Hodag was a wooden and metal sculpture covered in ox hide, animated with hidden wires. But by then, it was too late. The Hodag had captured Rhinelander's heart.

Today, the Hodag is Rhinelander's official mascot, appearing on everything from the city seal to high school athletic uniforms. A massive Hodag statue greets visitors entering town. An annual "Hodag Country Festival" draws thousands.

"It took dynamite to subdue the creature the first time. The second time, we used chloroform." — Eugene Shepard, 1896, maintaining the fiction to the delight of all.