# The Gopher Hole Museum. Simply Unforgettable. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 26, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275 "2008-08-26T02:20:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/21 "2008-08-26T19:08:03Z")
I’m amazed they would let you bring in a camera. Who ever will pay to go in there now? I’ve seen all I need to see! ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/22 "2008-08-26T19:22:00Z")
That looks positively bizarre, I must admit. It reminds me of my local pub when I used to live in Hampshire, England - which has a set of stuffed squirrels and weasels playing a game of cricket in the shelf above the bar. Every time I went there I had to re-visit the weirdness, and it never quite became normal. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/23 "2008-08-26T19:33:12Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] But you’re a furry…Doesn’t taxidermy bother you on some level? Killing some animal and making it spend its afterlife in a cutesy pose? [/QUOTE] Yeah, I’m a furry _carnivore._ They’re dead now, who cares? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/24 "2008-08-26T19:35:59Z")
[QUOTE=Silver Tyger Girl] Yeah, I’m a furry _carnivore._ They’re dead now, who cares? 🆒 [/QUOTE] Fair enough. Also love to eat the meat here, but even though I’m not morally opposed to eating animals, I am opposed to making them spend the afterlife boxing, fishing, and ballroom dancing. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/25 "2008-08-26T20:34:03Z")
I’ve emailed my parents who travel a lot in Canada and would appreciate this. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/26 "2008-08-26T20:55:47Z")
What did they have at the gift shop and what did you get? I see a real oppurtunity for the White Elephant thread. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/27 "2008-08-26T21:12:20Z")
One of my favorite spoken word stories of all time is Kevin Kling’s **Taxidermy** which has _exactly_ this type of diorama (is that the right word? probably not…) as its subject. I wish I could link you to it- it’s the most awesome story ever. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/28 "2008-08-26T21:29:25Z")
[QUOTE=xanthous] One of my favorite spoken word stories of all time is Kevin Kling’s **Taxidermy** which has _exactly_ this type of diorama (is that the right word? probably not…) as its subject. I wish I could link you to it- it’s the most awesome story ever. [/QUOTE] Gopherama? Bizarro-ama? Rodentrama? There was a thread here years ago about weird taxidermy. The (forgotten now) poster wrote about his aunt, who “loved her kitties a little bit too much.” When they died, the aunt had her husband, a taxidermist, stuff the kitties. Every Christmas, she would stage the corpses in a creche, complete with a kitten in the manger, and three king cats. In keeping with the tradition that one of the kings was from Nubia, she made sure that her dead black kitty was one of the visiting royalty. I think I remember that stuffed chipmunks were fitted with wings and suspended over the stable as angels. Would I love to see that on flicker. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/29 "2008-08-26T21:33:03Z")
Astonishing. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/30 "2008-08-26T21:38:33Z")
[QUOTE=FarmerChick] Take me too! And the only thing better then a dead gopher is two dead gophers. [/QUOTE] Two dead gophers and a double-double. THAT would make my day. Signed, Someone who’s tripped in one too many goddamned gopher holes. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/31 "2008-08-26T22:48:04Z")
[QUOTE=FarmerChick] Take me too! And the only thing better then a dead gopher is two dead gophers. [/QUOTE] And a dead lawyer! **Tapioca** those fighting squirrels are awesome! Fighting Squirrels = Band Name! ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/32 "2008-08-26T23:21:45Z")
I’m not sure what is more disturbing: the fact someone went to all the trouble to create that “museum” or that people go so far out of their way and presumably pay money to see it. ---
**Author:** ![meek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@meek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meek)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/33 "2008-08-26T23:39:20Z")
[QUOTE=Rack-a-Bones] I’m not sure what is more disturbing: the fact someone went to all the trouble to create that “museum” or that people go so far out of their way and presumably pay money to see it. [/QUOTE] We are disturbed. I blew a tank of gas and was out of there in ten minutes. I did it for all of you people. meek Visiting the crappy spots - so you don’t have to. . ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/34 "2008-08-26T23:41:17Z")
I went to the museum the day after my wedding (at my husbands request). He thought that the visiting family had not truly seen Alberta until they had seen the gophers. So we planned this big day that involved a little sidetrack to Torrington. Unfortunately he wound up too hung over to make the drive… The rest of us still went and we took pictures to make him a gopher calendar for Christmas 🙂 I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he opens that gift 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/35 "2008-08-27T00:02:11Z")
[QUOTE=meek] We are disturbed. I blew a tank of gas and was out of there in ten minutes. I did it for all of you people. meek Visiting the crappy spots - so you don’t have to. . [/QUOTE] I thank you sir for your service. Between this thread and the furry thread I think I’ve gotten enough “critter education” for one day. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/36 "2008-08-27T00:23:41Z")
Lovely Older Farm Home Oil heat, all new kitchen 2 baths, 4 bedrooms home office! Outbuildings include Gopher Museum ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/37 "2008-08-27T00:27:09Z")
Now, I daresay there are likely more than a few message boards out there whose members would respond with interest and approval to the OP’s anthropomorphic gopher taxidermy slideshow. But I have to think there’s something just a little bit special about a message board where the fifth reply to such an OP is, “Oh yeah, my great great grandpa was also heavily into anthropomorphic gopher taxidermy.” **meek** and **Tapioca Dextrin** , thanks for being SDMB members. God bless the insane small town museums everywhere. It does my heart good to know that, in this often cold and unfeeling world we live in, some of us still care enough to dress a dead gopher in a tiny bikini. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/38 "2008-08-27T02:50:32Z")
[QUOTE=meek] meek Visiting the crappy spots - so you don’t have to. . [/QUOTE] Oh. So I didn’t need to hang out in Barons? Or go to Vulcan, or Granum, or Macleod? ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/39 "2008-08-27T04:39:49Z")
[QUOTE=meek] [Here’s](http://gauntlet.ucalgary.ca/story/3196) an old press clipping from 1999, with some background. . [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > The story of how a small museum can create such disproportionate attention starts in 1995, when the citizens of Torrington formed a committee to determine how to increase town revenue. The Alberta government, as part of their 20/20 Vision program, was offering grants to small towns to help improve their economies hoping to ensure their existence > [@](#): > > And it couldn’t just be any tourism attraction, she adds. It had to be one that would lure people travelling to Drumheller or divert traffic from highway 2. > > After several ideas were tossed around, a member of the committee suggested stuffing some of the many gophers that infested the town and putting them on display. > > “My honest opinion is that it was the silliest idea I’d ever heard,” says Kurta. > > Torrington has what Kurta describes as a “gopher problem.” The committee decided to take advantage of the problem, warming to the idea and submitting a proposal to the government. After their grant was approved, construction of the museum began in 1995. > > That’s when the controversy started. This totally sounds like an episode of _Corner Gas_, doesn’t it? ETA: and this town’s even smaller than Dog River! ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275/40 "2008-08-27T12:25:55Z")
The ought to have built a giant hoe to commemorate their agricultural past. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gopher-hole-museum-simply-unforgettable/461275.md?page=3)