Hungry Hodag

He needs to visit at least 15 different places that has bulldogs as their mascot(please take a picture of him near his meals!)...then head to Rhinelander, WI to visit with other Hodags...and then home to southern WI to be back home with his family.

Since our Hodag is extremely hungry...and since his diet consists almost entirely of Bulldogs (white ones are his favorite...but he isn't too picky when he is sooooo hungry), he wants to go in search of them...He needs to visit at least 15 different places that has bulldogs as their mascot...so he can get a full belly...and then he needs to head to Rhinelander, WI---Home of the Hodag to have his picture taken with other Hodags and then return home fully satisfied to the cache called Travel Bug Spa in Deforest, WI.

Some may ask what exactly is a Hodag...well, here is a little history-

The Hodag-A Brief History
What is a Hodag? Just the fiercest, strangest, most frightening monster ever to set razor sharp claws on the earth, that's all. The Hodag made his first appearance near Rhinelander, WI in 1896. Gene Shepard, Rhinelander pioneer and timber cruiser, snapped its picture just before the beast sprang at him from a white pine log. What a horrible sight the camera caught! He was certain that he was going after his pet bull dog.

A hairy animal seven feet long and thirty inches tall glared ferociously from the photograph--copies of which still can be seen. Its backbone bristled with a dozen gleaming white horns, and wicked-looking tusks hung menacingly from its vise-like jaws. The claws on its short, muscular fore and hind legs were long and needle sharp.
A party of brave lumberjacks led by Shepard actually captured the monster in a cave by putting him to sleep with a chloroform-soaked sponge tied to the end of a 30 foot bamboo pole. You can still see the pit at Shepard's house in the pines where the beast was kept when it wasn't prowling the countryside at night devouring white bulldogs--a Hodag Delicacy.
Now all this may seem a bit far-fetched, and the truth of the matter is that Shepard himself was later forced to admit that the Hodag was something of a hoax. Its hairy body was made of wood and ox hides. Its armor of horns once belonged to various bulls. Those vicious claws were bent steel rods.
But to Rhinelander, the Hodag is much more than a hoax. It has become a local legend. It is the symbol of the city, "The Home of the Hodag." It has been stamped permanently in the city's personality. Rhinelander's biggest recreation area on Boom Lake is Hodag Park. Business places have adopted the name. School athletic teams call themselves the "Hodags."