Field file · Other · Hoax / debunked
Skvader
Also known as Tetrao lepus pseudo-hybridus rarissimus (joke name), Winged Hare of Sundsvall
Sweden’s winged hare: a hunter’s tall tale turned into a taxidermy hybrid of hare and wood grouse in 1918, now a beloved symbol of Sundsvall.
The skvader is a hare with the wings, back and tail of a wood grouse – a creature that exists only as a joke and a museum exhibit. It began as a hunting story told in a Sundsvall restaurant in the early twentieth century by Håkan Dahlmark, who claimed to have shot such an animal north of the town in 1874.
In 1907 his housekeeper gave him a joke painting of the animal made by her nephew, which Dahlmark later gave to the local museum. In 1916, at an exhibition in Örnsköldsvik, the head of the museum met the taxidermist Rudolf Granberg and asked him to build the beast from the story and the painting. Granberg completed the mount in 1918, using a hare for the head, forequarters and hind legs and a female wood grouse for the back, wings and tail.
The original skvader is displayed at the open-air museum on Norra Berget in Sundsvall, with other copies kept at Stockholm’s Biologiska museet and a student nation in Uppsala. The creature is an unofficial symbol of the town, and in 1987, when Medelpad was choosing a provincial animal, many locals voted for it. The province picked the mountain hare, which is the skvader’s front half.
In Swedish, skvader has become a word for a clumsy compromise, and it has also been used for a hybrid bus-truck and a herbal liqueur. The animal belongs with the wolpertinger and the jackalope as one of a family of hoax animals, which hoax historians compare with the “rabbit-bird” described by Pliny the Elder.
What does Skvader look like?
A hare with the folded wings, back and tail feathers of a wood grouse, usually shown mounted in a glass case.
Where is Skvader seen?
A museum case in Sundsvall; in the original joke, the forests north of the town.
Skvader sightings
- 1874The tall tale North of Sundsvall
Håkan Dahlmark said that he had shot a winged hare in this year, a claim he told in the manner of a hunting joke.
- 1907The painting Sundsvall
Dahlmark’s housekeeper gave him a joke painting of the creature made by her nephew; he later donated it to a local museum.
- 1918Granberg’s mount Sundsvall
Taxidermist Rudolf Granberg completed the hare-and-grouse mount which is still the best-known skvader.
- 1987Provincial animal vote Medelpad
Many locals voted for the skvader as the province’s animal. The mountain hare, its front half, was chosen instead.
Is Skvader real? What could explain it
- The skvader is an acknowledged hoax: its history from a joke, a painting and a taxidermist is well documented, and it was never presented as a real animal in scientific terms.
- Hare-bird hybrids are a classic taxidermy joke and appear in many European countries, including the German wolpertinger and the American jackalope.
- A hare and a grouse are unrelated animals and cannot interbreed.
Legend, culture and tourism
A statue of the skvader stands in a small park in Sundsvall, built in 1994, and a road sign near the museum warns drivers of skvaders. Local clubs, beers and souvenirs use the creature, which Swedes treat with affection and humour.
Places to visit
Houses the original skvader mount; check current opening times before travelling.
Where it’s reported
Sources
First published · Updated
