Ringdocus

Ringdocus is the name given to an unidentified animal shot by Israel A. Hutchins, a Mormon settler in Montana in 1886. Hutchins had it stuffed by a local taxidermist, Joseph Sherwood, who put it on display at his general store near Henry's Lake, Idaho until the 1980s when it mysteriously disappeared. DNA testing has never been conducted on the animal.

In 2007, Jack Kirby, grandson of the man who shot the animal, tracked it down to the Idaho Museum of Natural History in Pocatello. The specimen was displayed in the Madison Valley History Museum when it reopened in May 2007.^[1]

In art

Score Of The Ringdocus

In 2008, Todd Freeman, a printmaker from Grand Rapids, MI, referenced the unusual story of the beast in his copper etching "Score of the Ringdocus (I'm Just Too Scared of Wolves)". The print depicts a stylized rendering of the infamous Hutchin's mount, perched beneath a stormcloud of canid teeth. The image also features several measures of the French-Canadian hunting favorite "Je suis juste trop effrayé des loups" ("I'm Just Too Scared of Wolves") to tribute the supposed threat and mystery of the animal, and also as a gentle nod to the likelihood of the specimen's familiar nature. Freeman's work often references stories of beasts and beings from classic and contemporary world folklore, including cryptozoology reports. The Trunko sea-beast, Tatzelwyrms, Momo and the Flatwoods monster have all appeared among Freeman's naturalist-inspired prints.

References