Part mythological creature, part well played hoax, the Hodag of the Wisconsin north woods is also part of the playful history of Midwestern culture. Books have been written about it, claims of sight have been recorded, and in the community of Rhinelander, Wis., daily life centers around this white bulldog-eating monster.
Hodag Origins
No one had ever heard of the Hodag until 1893 when logger Eugene "Gene" Shepard claimed to have seen a creature with "the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with spears at the end." He dubbed the creature a Hodag and formed a hunting party to capture it. According to Shepard, dynamite would be needed to capture the beast.
Strangely, Shepard knew a large amount of information about the newly discovered monster, including its main food source, the white bulldog. After a photograph surfaced showing the fearsome creature, it was said that the Hodag was "the fiercest, strangest, most frightening monster ever to set razor sharp claws on the earth. It became extinct after its main food source, all white bulldogs, became scarce in the area."
Three years later, in 1896, Shepard caught a live Hodag and displayed it at the Oneida County Fair. The beast displayed was carved out of wood, covered with an ox hide, and had oxen horns. However, from a distance, by use of strings, the animal appeared to move and growl. The growl was provided by Shepard's sons. Eventually the prankster admitted that it was a hoax, but belief in the concept of the Hodag remained.
The Home of the Hodag
Residents in Rhinelander, Wis. embraced the Hodag even more than other areas in Oneida County. Used in many business names and as the mascot for Rhinelander High School, most everyone in the community will proclaim, "I am proud to be a Hodag." The Hodag is also the mascot for the Hodag Country Festival, Rhinelander's annual country festival that draws country names such as Neal McCoy, Toby Keith and Reba McIntyre.
The Look of the Hodag
According to Rhinelander locals, the Hodag is about seven feet long and as tall as a large dog, with bristly green fur, two large horns on its head, long sharp claws on each paw, spikes down its back to the tip of its tail, and large front fangs. It keeps mainly to the deep woods, and only comes out to hunt for bulldogs on Sunday.
