Encounter Atlas
The hodag is a fearsome critter of the northern Wisconsin logging camps: a dark beast with bull horns, a frog's head, a huge grin full of teeth, a row of spikes along its back and a spear-tipped tail. Lumberjacks said it was born from the ashes of mistreated oxen.
In 1893 surveyor and prankster Eugene Shepard announced that he and some locals had killed a hodag in Rhinelander with dynamite, and released a photo of its charred remains. In 1896 he claimed to have caught one alive and displayed it in a dark tent at the county fair, moving it with wires. When scientists said they would come to see it, he admitted it was a wooden carving.
Rhinelander embraced the beast: its schools are the Hodags, a giant statue stands by the chamber of commerce, and the Hodag Country Festival is held each summer.
What witnesses report
- Bull horns and a wide, toothy grin
- A row of spikes down the back
- A long tail with a spear tip
- The smell of buzzard meat and skunk
Famous cases
- 1893Shepard "kills" a hodag
Rhinelander, Wisconsin - 1896Live hodag shown at the fair
Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Seen the Hodag?
Tell us what happened. Every report is read by a person before it goes on the map, and you can stay anonymous.
