Monday, April 9, 2012

H is for..........

H is for..........Hodag.

If you ever have reason to be near Rhinelander, Wisconsin, keep an eye out for a hodag. Some would say the hodag is a mythical creature, kin to Sasquatch and the chupacabra.

The Rileys are believers though, and every summer when we drive through the area where the hodag is said to roam, our eyes scour the woods, hoping to spot the elusive beast.

The town of Rhinelander has embraced the hodag, so much so that the hodag is the high school mascot. The first time I heard of the hodag was when my high school played Rhinelander in the state basketball tournament. Only years later, when we drove through Rhinelander for the first time, did I appreciate the awesomeness that is the hodag.

A local author even has a cute series of children's books chronicling the adventures of Happy the Hodag. I'm sure you could google Happy the Hodag and get your hands on some if you'd like.

I think the hodag would make for a great monster in a campy horror flick, plucking off Wisconsin teens as they take to the woods to drink and whatnot. I'm kind of surprised they never did a hodag episode on the X-files. I mean, they had that chupacabra episode, and the hodag is way cooler than the chupacabra. Seriously, if they can do a reality show called Finding Bigfoot (which the Rileys fully support), where's the love for the hodag?

There are a couple hodag statues in Rhinelander, one in a little park by the McDonald's and one in front of the library. Last year we stopped to get some pictures with these statues, and that was fun and all. But on our way out of town, we all kept our eyes peeled.

13 comments:

  1. What a fun blog!

    I've noticed quite a few teachers doing the A to Z Challenge - it's great to see such enthusiasm in people educating our children.

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  2. You have to keep your eyes peeled, as you never know when you might be the first person to spot it. This is a really nice post and just maybe you should start making the Hodag popular.

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  3. I'd never heard of a hodag. It's not really something you want to find in your backyard.

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  4. Jealous! All we have are jackalopes (rabbits with antlers).

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  5. I've never heard of hodags! You learn something new every day.

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  6. Ooh, my first hodag sighting! (Translation: this post is the first time I've ever seen or heard of a hodag.) But what do you mean, Sasquatch and chupacabras are mythical? I just saw Bigfoot last week. He was in my garage, using the belt sander.

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  7. I never heard of this. I love the hodag, how fun haha.

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  8. I learn something new every day! Yay for new mythical beasts!

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  9. I bet that this monster will show up on the CWs "Supernatural" at some point. Every other creature in the universe has shown up there.

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  10. Yay for the Hodag. A friend of mine is from Rhinelander. I'll have to share this post with her.

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  11. I have never heard of this before! It sounds really neat though.

    Just a Nice Girl

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  12. A hodag? I've never heard of this, but it sounds so intriguing. I thank you in advance for giving me something else to look up on the internet!

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  13. I never knew about the Hodag! I am going to have to look him up!

    I am trying to read all the A to Z blogs, but coming back to the ones I really like.
    Looking forward to seeing what you do all month!

    Tim
    The Other Side
    The Freedom of Nonbelief

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