Dione Surdez Oliver was born in Santa Ana, California in 1969. She moved to Crooks, South Dakota when she was four years old. She grew up on her family’s small dairy farm. At the age of eighteen she moved back to Southern California. She worked in the music industry for some time as well as a legal assistant for a number of years. In 2003 Dione decided to pursue her educational endeavors and began studying at Santa Monica Community College. She transferred to the University of Southern California in the fall of 2006 and was granted the Norman Topping Student Aid Fund Scholarship. In 2009 Dione graduated with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative writing and a minor in Cultural Anthropology. She graduated with honors and received the Order of Troy. She currently resides in Manhattan Beach, California and where she is the director of CrossFit Zen and is working on entering the Masters of Professional Writing program at USC.
Informant: Okay, so you know what the jackalope is, right?
Me: The what?
I: Well, if you ever travel through the Midwest people will ask you if you have seen one. Always say no, no matter what.
M: Got it. But, for curiosity’s sake, what exactly is a jackalope?
I: It is supposed to be a creature that is half jack rabbit and half antelope, which is impossible. People will try to convince you that they are real. If you go to any bar or diner on the main road you will even see taxidermy jackalope. Basically, it is a jackrabbit with antlers. If you see one you are very lucky, as people are always trying to catch them and the animals themselves are incredibly elusive. They just use it as a way to make fun of tourists who are unfamiliar with the creature. (Informant holds up fingers to signify quotes around word creature.) Either way, no matter how convincing they seem, do not believe the hype. You will never be able to live it down if you fall for the joke.
M: Thanks for the heads up.
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It seems that the folk of this particular lore go to great lengths to convince others that the creature truly exists. So much so that it seems that there may be some sort of truth to the story. Some Sources cite this belief on an outbreak of rabbits what were infected with the Shope papilloma virus, which causes the growth of horn- and antler-like tumors in various places on the rabbit’s head and body. The fact that this story has some semblance of truth speaks to the lengths that the locals go to trick the tourists.
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This lore can also be reviewed at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackalope