For many years the Jackrabbit sat on the sidewalk in front of the Chamber of Commerce office down town. The poor rabbit was repeatedly victumized by vandals. He was stolen more than once. For a while they gave up and simply stored the critter in a safe place. Eventually they they rebuilt the damaged hare and gave him a place of honor in a park north of city hall. He hasn't been stolen from the latest location so far as we know, so they must have used some really good stickum.

In the summer of 2004 the city had a Jackrabbid Jamboree where replicas of Jack Ben were placed around town and those with some rare rabbit adorning ambitions did so. Folks had great fun with the project and raised some money for future art projects and UTPB art scholarships in the process. Gareth Pollard recorded the event for posterity. See the pictures @ http://www.odessahistory.com.
Choose Odessa Rabbits on the menu to see the slide show.

Right: author poses with Jack Ben Rabbit.