The Hodag is the official symbol of Rhinelander, a mythical creature created in 1896 by Rhinelander pioneer timber cruiser and famous prankster "Gene" Shepard. Shepard claimed to have discovered the animal in the woods near Rice Creek and to have captured it by blocking the mouth of its den with rocks and rendering it unconscious with a chloroformed sponge on a long pole. In fact, the original Hodag was fashioned by a skilled woodcarver named Luke Kearney. It was seven feet long and thirty inches high, black and hairy, with two horns on its head, twelve horns along its spine, and short powerful legs armed with long claws. For years Shepard exhibited the Hodag at county fairs in a dimly lighted tent, controlling its movements with wires, and many spectators believed the animal was real. He told them he had captured it on "Section 37" and that it ate "nothing but white bulldogs and those only on Sundays."