As a child, making my way between the city and our farm every summer, the hour-long drive seemed to never end. Flat and barren, there wasn’t much to look at.
When we arrived on the farm, my summer was filled with quad driving, quonset building, shelter belt planting and the most enjoyable part, Gopher hunting!
Please don’t bother preaching to me about it being wrong. I was a child and after spending hours in the blazing hot sun tapping drip lines to insure the saplings were getting water, I wasn’t about to let a Gopher eat the roots and send me back to square one.
Now don’t look at me as unsympathetic, I loved the little guys. So cute with their big black eyes and their two yellowed buck teeth, if I could have trapped them for pets I would have.
That got me to thinking, “What was the life of a Gopher really like?”
With a recent trip to Torrington AB, home to 250 people, I was about to find out.
16 years ago this small town applied for a grant to develop a roadside attraction and after many town hall meetings they settled upon this;
The world-famous Gopher Hole Museum!
Inside, 92 stuffed Gophers were on display.
A variety of vignettes so utterly bizarre I could barely control my sudden out bursts of laughter as I made my way around the room.
All these little creature had been captured, euthanized and sent off to the taxidermy with particular instructions on how they were to be posed for their upcoming debut in the museum.
Before each new display a meeting is held and the concept is approved. A local artist is then busy at work painting backdrops while other town folk create clothing and props.
The museum gained world-wide notoriety when they were publicly scorned by PETA many years ago. Now many visitors come from around the world to support them and thus the people of Torrington are able to continue developing their great ideas into entertainment for all their visitors.
This by far was the best $2.00 I ever spent!
So put down your pellet guns and visit the Torrington Gopher Hole Museum today!
Mr. Fab opher
I’ve lived in the ‘big city’ my whole life, and though I knew about the museum- I didn’t know until this moment that I would enjoy seeing a dead rodent posed like a bank robber! I’m going to start saving pennies for the admission right away!! (or just look for a toonie in the bottom of my purse) Thanks Mr. Fabulous for the spotlight on small town awesomeness
It’s been on my list of things to do for a couple years now. Guess I should! I love you even more now for this posting!!! Xo
Holy.Eff.
I need, nay, MUST now go to this museum. Must.
And I shall drag my husband and children there, and they shall ENJOY IT damnit.
Love.
I still can’t figure out how I feel about this. It’s like watching Honey Boo Boo, it’s so horrifying I want to turn away but I can’t!
Umm…..
I immediately thought of thebloggess.com and her bizarre, yet strangely intriguing, taxidermy collection… LOL I too grew up on the gopher infected prairies and could tell some “interesting” gopher hunting stories.