West's weirdest? Quirky Alberta gopher museum celebrates 25 years
A quirky southern Alberta museum dreamt up out of desperation is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
It was the mid-1990's and a group of volunteers were trying to come up with ideas to attract people to the shrinking hamlet of Torrington, Alta., population a couple of hundred or so.
"We thought of birds and fish and everything else. One lady come up with the gopher. And we thought it was the craziest idea ever had," said Otto Kurta, the town's mayor and a co-founder of the Torrington Gopher Hole Museum.
"We thought we'd last two or three years, eh? But here we are on our 25th! It says something about what we done," Kurta added.
The museum is housed in the old grain elevator office, and features a mural painted by a local resident with recognized world class talent.
"Wayne Schnieder lived on a farm half a mile out of town, he worked for Walt Disney, we asked him to put a mural up here," says Kurta.
The museum is open about four months of the year, drawing about 8,000 guests in normal times, including many from around the globe.
"They come from all over the world. Not only to see the gopher museum, but when family comes from Italy, Germany, Austria, wherever, they bring them out here," said Kurta.
The 49 displays hold 77 stuffed gophers, all dressed and posed in dioramas depicting life throughout Torrington's history. It's both oddball folk art and a reminder of just how vibrant so many of Alberta's farming communities once were.
"I can look in here and I can see everything I grew up with," recalled Laural Kurta, Otto's daughter. "This town had three restaurants, an arcade, a pet store, a comic book store. It was a lovely little place to grow up in."
But like so many others, the grain elevators were abandoned and torn down, the rail lines ripped up, and slowly business went elsewhere until the village became a hamlet of about 250.
The gophers are actually Richardson's Ground Squirrels, a prolific species that while cute, also packs a number of less charming attributes. The ground squirrels dig a lot of holes that can fatally injure livestock. They are also known to sometimes carry bubonic plague.
While mostly herbivore, they will also feed on insects and even roadkill - regardless of species.
"I call them cannibals, is what I call them, eh? Horses break their legs, cows break their legs and the only real predator that they got are hawks and badgers."
The gophers have another predator - upset farmers, and in the case of the museum's specimens, their kids.
"We paid kids $10 a gopher, put them in a box live, send them to the taxidermist, and he does his thing," Kurta said.
The collection had its last addition two years ago.
Learn more about The Torrington Gopher Hole Museum.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Montreal doctors' breakthrough discovery about causes of cerebral palsy giving hope
A breakthrough discovery made by doctors at the Montreal Children's Hospital about the causes of cerebral palsy is giving new hope to one West Island family.
Weather alerts issued for 7 provinces, 1 territory
Warnings of up to 60 millimetres of rain and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces and one territory ahead of the Easter weekend.
Ontario homeowner on the hook for $27,000 when contractor severed power line
An Ontario man who built a garage on his property has been locked in a battle with his electricity provider for a year and half over a severed power line.
For years she thought her son had died of an overdose. The police video changed all that
Austin Hunter Turner died in 2017, on a night that his mother has rewound and replayed again and again, trying to make sense of what happened.
Feeling older than you are? It could be how you sleep
Not getting enough sleep may cause you to feel five to 10 years older than you really are, according to two new studies.
OPP seize $7.5 million worth of drugs in eastern Ontario
The Upper Ottawa Valley Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police says one person is facing multiple charges after a traffic complaint on Highway 17 in Head Clara Maria Township.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Why Kim Kardashian is being sued for 'knockoff' furniture
The estate of minimalist contemporary artist Donald Judd filed a lawsuit against Kardashian this week, claiming the fashion and beauty mogul promoted 'cheap knockoffs' of his furniture designs.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.