In the late 1800s in Rhinelander WI, a man named Gene Sheppard had people believing he had discovered a creature called a Hodag in the forest. He made up many stories about the beast and built one that he kept in a cave and charged people to see. Only when someone from the Smithsonian came to investigate, did he fess up. To this day, this is the town mascot. Their police cars say home of the Hodag on them.

The Public Radio Station in Rhinelander,WXPR sits in a house that is next
to the old Shepard place and the Hodag is found in many places in
Rhinelander... the legend was cleaned up a bit that is all you have..
the original Hodag hoax-critter was destroyed in a fire, but not before the
Smithsonian and National Geographic sent reporters. The very first version
was a skeletal remains that we "found" in what is now the Novelette
National Forest. There is a lot more to the story than you have on the web
site.

Has antone reading this ever heard a version of this tale relating that Hodags have six legs. If so could you please post an author or source?

Thanks, Bill

Mi dog Sona caught one yesterday but unfortunately ate it whole.

Hey check this web site out for a link to a biography of Eugene Shepard - northern Wisconsin prankster and Hodag creator!

www.hodagpress.com

I know that type Bill.Go to wikipedia.I also know of a type with three eyes. The following is a haiku.

The hodag,a strange creature
Displayed by Eugene Sheppard
Long Live The Hodag!!!

There is a 6 legged variety.There is also a kind with 3 eyes,J.There is also a sidehill type and one that has a shovel shaped nose and catches porcupines.Can anyone else back me up?

The hodag displayed
by Eugene Sheppard was just
Dog under horse hide

Pounces from a bush
Something grabs bulldog pulls back
Hodag dissapears

Having been born and raised in Rhinelander, I know that there are as many Hodag stories as there are tellers. And a lot of them are tall tales for sure. Gene Shepard owned several houses in the Rhinelander area, one of which, at 25 South Pelham Street, later belonged to my grandparents. This house was located about 4 blocks from the old CNW depot and is the site where Shepard had a wooden Hodag on the porch which could be made to move by pulling chains in the basement. Tourists and travelers would walk over to the house during train layovers to see the creature. Though it was gone before my time, I remember seeing the patched holes in the basement wall and on the porch where the Hodag was displayed. There apparently was more than one Hodag also because my aunt told me that my uncle found an old wooden Hodag in a garden shed behind the house when they moved in which they proceeded to burn with other "rubbish" they wanted to get rid of. At the time it was just old junk to get rid of. It was still common to burn trash in the backyard in the 40's and I do remember the garden shed behind the house as it remained there until the house was razed. There was an old walk in vault in the living room that was lettered with Shepard's name in gold paint that they later painted over to match the rest of the room. They used that vault for a coat closet for many years after. The old house is gone for many years now but the memories of the stories passed on by the old timers lives on. It's kind of sad seeing the "new" sinister looking Hodag depictions displayed on Rhinelander city signs and advertising literature. The old images from the 50's and 60's were much nicer looking. Sometimes older is better. There was a "home movie" made sometime in the 20's depicting a reenactment of the hodag capture featuring several prominent local people at the time. I saw part of it in grade school when a girl brought it in about 1960. The film broke several times and the nun stopped showing it. It would be great if someone could find and restore it and put it on video. Though a few have tried to "steal" the Hodag, it is still uniquely Rhinelander's mascot and hopefully it shall remain so.

Wowsers. Thats one creepy looking beast! Of course pictures like this seem like complete BS. This one is no exception. This is BS or no BS?? Tel Domain Names

...was that east of the train depot? My wifes grandmother lived a couple blocks from "The Rathskellar" nad Twistdrill.

I saw one of those things on Mount Rorirama along with a Megalosaurus attacking a Iguanodon. Seriously!

I remember Shrek. The image came from Hodag right? Because Shrek really looked like Hodag. It says it has the head of a frog and in your review, it has the head of a bull. Which is which? Well this creature is kind of famous though. He's in sports too.

this is rediculous

My beagle saved my life when a hodag had me cornered near Lac du Flambeau in about 1967 when I was a little boy. I only wish I had a camera with. I wanted it mounted but my parents said a taxidermist was too expensive. I've never seen one since....

My novel Masters' Mysterium: Wisconsin Dells, features a Hodag. It seems like Bigfoot receives all the press. We need to show the Hodag some love.

Gene Sheppard is my great great uncle on my father's side. Let me tell you the prankster gene is still alive in my family! I love the stories printed above & some have been passed through the family.