On Wisconsin's upper peninsula, one can find a curious city, once a booming, old logging town, nestled among the quaint white pine forests. Rhinelander is its name. But in addition to its scenic evergreens and picturesque millponds, Rhinelander is known for, of all things, a monster. A terrible creature said to have arose from the ashes of cremated oxen as the vile incarnation of the abuse the animals suffered at the whips and sticks of their lumberjack masters. The hodag, as it is called, is a gluttonous, ravenous beast with a violent temperament and unappeasable hunger.
In weight the hodag might be compare with a moose, in hunger a lion, in aggression a badger, in strength a black bear while in altogether appearance the monster is wholly incomparable. The hodag is a horrid sight to be sure. Four muscular legs uplift it from the ground with sharp, jutting nails, like scythes, which hang down and curve hideously. Its bulging eyes rest atop a large snout near its repulsive mouth full of dozens of jutting teeth. As formidable as ugly, two mammoth cattle-like horns rise from its head and a row of arched spines inch along its back and tail until terminating in one terrible hook.
The hodag (bovine spiritualis) was said to have been captured through great difficulty by a certain Eugene S. Shepard in 1896. Descriptions of the hodag are generally consistent to the aforementioned with only the occasional variation. However, opinions tend to be divided on its diet with some saying it subsists on “blue mud” whereas other contend it only has appetite for “white bulldogs but only on Sundays.”
No matter where folks may finds themselves, every place in America has its legacy, some are simply stranger than others. The hodag is a story passed down from one generation to the next, and for the City of Rhinelander it is an inexhaustible source of civic pride. Throughout the city, the hodag adorns government offices, shops, parks, bars and other local establishments with no sign of fading into obscurity anytime soon. Explanations as to why this monster should be so enshrined or beloved is difficult to say. But if one thing is for certain, it matters not how unsightly or ill-tempered this monster may be, the hodag belongs to Rhinelander. And, perhaps, it is that sense of belonging that is all the reason the good people of the city will ever need.
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A HODAG.
A Fierce Animal Discovered in Beltrami County.
Wellington Schroeder returned yesterday from the northern part of the county with a story that beats sea-serpents all to smash. He personally met a wild beast which the settlers call a “hodag.” This is an animal which is nearly extinct, and the only one of its kind known to be in captivity is at Rhinelander, Wis. The hodag is a meat eater, and subsists on moose and kindred game which it rushes upon and rips with its horns. It has four of these, one on the snout and three upon its back. It has a tough hide covered with brownish hair. Wellington met this creature Sunday in the woods near the mouth of Black Duck river, 30 miles beyond Tenstrike. Wellington had no weapon larger than a knife, and if he had had a cannon he would not have dared to use it, he says. He made for a large tree, and found to his satisfaction that the hodag wore feet too large for scaling purposes. The man sat on a branch and studied natural history and the animal sawed the tree and studied man for over half an hour, than vanished. It is said that this brute is the terror of the neighborhood and has killed a number of cattle for the lumbermen. If any circus wants him, Mr. Schroeder will give up his claim by right of discovery.
N. B. It may be well to add that he is not a drinking man.
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MONSTER WITH MANY HORNS.
Tall Story from Wisconsin
Tall Story from Wisconsin
A recent issue of the Timberman tells of the alledged capture of what it calls a black hodag. The capture is said to have been effected by one E. S. Shepard, who is discribed [sic] as a well-known timber-land cruiser and estimator of Rhinelander, Wis. Mr. Shepard is said to have seen the strange creature near the line of the Rhinelander and St. Paul railroad. He was hunting at the time, and as is presumably common among hunters in the wilds of Northern Wisconsin he had his camera with him, probably in the hope of getting a snapshot at the monster. This black hodag is declared to have killed many domestic animals in the past. It was on one of its semiweekly visits to Lake Goodyear when Mr. Shepard saw it. The animal came to that place at intervals to feed on mud turtles and water snakes.
After getting a photograph of the monster the timbercruiser summons some lumbermen, and they went in pursuit of it. They are said to have traced it to its nest in an old abandoned iron mine.” The pursuers with due regard for their saftety [sic] affixed a sponge saturated with chloroform to a pole and dropped it down in front of the brute’s nose. It would also appear to be common for Wisconsin hunters to carry with them chloroform and sponges when out after game. Anyway, the hodag was stupefied, and when in this condition was carried to Rhinelander where a nest similar to its own was fixed up for it. So ferocious is the creature however, according to the veracious chronicler, that it found necessary to keep it constantly under the influence of drugs. Several dogs which attacked the hodag were bromptly [sic] killed for their temerity, and it is added gravely that after killing them with furious blows and crushing the life out of them with his claws he proceeded to tear them in pieces, and, after sopping them in mud, devoured them with great gusto. While thus feeding the animal emitted the most unearthly howl imaginable somewhat resembling the bellowing of a mud bull mingled with the roar of a lion, only considerably louder.
This is not all that is wonderful about the hodag, whose scientific name we are informed is ‘bovine spiritualis.’ It appears that this creature of the bovine species also lays eggs several of which were found in its nest. Unfortunately the narrative does not say how many, “It is estimated,” says the gifted fabricator, “that the eggs will soon hatch out and much care is being taken by his keepers to observe the monster’s habits, and that none of them will escape to prey on the domestic animals in that section, as the old ones have been doing in the past. It is hoped that the dreaded hodag can be finally exterminated, and as evidence exist of only this one family it is probable that the humane object can soon be successfully accomplished.
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MORE HODAGS.
On the first page of the Milwaukee Daily News recently, there appeared an article dated at Rhinelander, which gave account of the birth of eleven hodags to a pair of those animals in that city. Evidently ’Gene Shepard has been doing some more prevaricating, or else the News correspondent has been “hitting the pipe.” The age of the parents, as given by the News, is 4,000 years. Delving into mythology does not disclose a mention of this animal which appears to be a native of Rhinelander and vicinity, and to make the story stronger the author might just as well have added a few more thousand years to their ages. Shades of Munchausen what a yarn.
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A “DOUBTING THOMAS.”
By refusing to believe the total reliable stories from Rhinelander, relating to ’Gene Shepard, pet Hodag and its interesting family, the editor of the Wausau Pilot has placed himself on recent as a “doubting Thomas.” In the last issue of his paper he says:
“Evidently ’Gene Shepard has been doing some more prevaricating, or else the Milwaukee News correspondent has been “hitting the pipe.” The age of the Hodag is given as 4,000 years. Delving into mythology does not disclose a mention of this animal which appears to be a native of Rhinelander and vicinity, and to make the story stronger the author might just as well have added a few more thousand years to its ages. Shades of Munchausen what a yarn!”
Mr. Thayer's lack of faith in present day manhood’s regard for the truth at all times is partially excusable, for it probably is a fact that some men, under stress of circumstances, will occasionally resort to falsehood, but to question ’Gene Shepard’s veracity is an unpardonable sin. ’Gene hasn’t any “cherry tree and hatchet” story to substantiate his claims to truthfulness, but his neighbors don’t lock their chicken coop doors and he is otherwise regarded with respect by the community which he resides. Everyone swears by him and if he says that his Hodag is 4,000 years old it’s a safe bet that the animal’s age is in close proximity to what the figures designate.—Merrill News.
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