Jon Solo Sebastian 04/13/2025:

Have you ever heard of a mythological creature you’re only able to see if you’re drunk? When I first heard about this prerequisite I thought it was strange, but I’m all about the strange and unexplained, and I reminded myself that I wrote something very similar in my upcoming book release: Echoes of Summer. There’s a scene in the book where the characters are only able to see a ghost by wearing the main character’s blue-lens sunglasses. It’s not totally the same, but similar enough.

The drunk thing goes a little more into the silly angle, however, by stating the creature is attracted to the scent of beer and it will find its way to the party hoping someone will share their alcoholic beverage with it. Okay, I made up the last part of the sentence, but their attraction to the scent of beer has been reported!

According to legend, the star of Bavarian folklore—Wolpertinger, is a creature of the night you’re only able to see while intoxicated and only during a full moon, or on Walpurgisnacht, a traditional spring holiday celebrated on the night of April 30^th. There is another way to lure one out, but it’s far too pervy to mention in here. Like, honestly, who comes up with some of this stuff?

What is the Wolpertinger?

First and foremost, the likelihood off Ole Wolpertinger being real is extremely low—yet it has been an embraced part of German folklore for a few hundred years. Some people believe they’ve seen it in the Alpine forests of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Maybe they have, maybe they were drunk and mistook it for something else? 

Nevertheless, it’s a pretty adorable little creature, and if it did exist, I’d like to have one as a pet. What makes it adorable? It’s said to have the head of a rabbit, the body of a squirrel, the antlers of a deer (though I’m sure they’re tiny antlers), and the wings of a pheasant. It also has fangs… hopefully not like the rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail—that rabbit had real sharp fangs! They’ve also been said to have the head of a fox rather than a rabbit in some folktales.

When you take its size and appearance into consideration, you have to assume they’d be harmless toward humans and most animals, and you’d be correct with that assumption. They mostly feed on herbs and grass.

Wolpertinger and Taxidermy Art

Artists have created many versions of the Wolpertinger in the art of taxidermy. They were sold in souvenir shops and nearby markets to tourists who “just had to have one.” I’m not sure if these shops were selling the stuffed Wolpertinger’s as if it were real or not, but they made the sales. “Stuffed “Wolpertingers”, composed of parts of actual stuffed animals, are often displayed in inns or sold to tourists as souvenirs in the animals’ “native regions”. The Deutsches Jagd- und Fischereimuseum in Munich, Germany features a permanent exhibit on the creature. But this creature is regarded, like its counterparts the Jackalope and Skvader, as a hoax.” The quote mentions the Jackalope which is similar to the Wolpertinger in that it’s a jackrabbit with antlers—and also likely not real. The Jackalope is a cryptid of American folklore, so look for my piece on him next week!

Wolpertinger in Pop Culture

Have you ever heard of World of Warcraft? I imagine most people at least know it by name since it appears in movies and television series either by name, or by an entire episode based on it like that one SouthPark episode. Well, the Wolpertinger is in this famous MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing) video game as a pet that players can obtain by completing a specific quest in the game. Apparently, and this is funny if it’s true, the Wolpertinger, in-game, can only be seen by non-player characters that are drunk. It doesn’t do much other than follow your player around, but it’s still pretty great to see it being popular enough to make it in the video game.

Interesting Scientific Explanation

Whether it’s the tales or the taxidermy, there is a little bit to debate when it comes to deciding what the Wolpertinger is, if it exists. It’s possible that witnesses stamped a name on a real-world animal they’ve mistaken for illness rather than a new creature. “There is, however, some debate about whether these depict Wolpertingers or just rabbits infected by papillomavirus. This virus causes bony, antler-like tumors to grow on the rabbit’s head and body, giving it a slightly unnerving appearance.” This is actually pretty sad to think about, so I’d rather think this is an impossible scenario, and will make myself believe the Wolpertinger is real, instead.