Image via Gopher Hole Museum
There’s never been a better time to make local travel plans, so why not pay homage to some of Alberta’s more unique destinations? While there are many charming small towns and hamlets to visit in our fair province, this Alberta town is home to a taxidermied gopher museum — and it’s less than 1.5 hours from Calgary.
We know what you’re thinking: a stuffed gopher museum? Yes, that’s exactly right, and its story is surprisingly heart-warming. We spoke to Laural Kurta, director of the World Famous Gopher Hole Museum, to learn more about this weird and wonderful place.
Alberta’s famed gopher museum began as a last-ditch attempt to reinvigorate a beloved small town.
The town of Torrington has always been small, with a population of under 350 people. Despite this, Torrington was once a bustling place with five grain elevators and an active rail line. However, the CPR decommissioned the rail lines in the early 1990s, forcing the grain elevators to close and businesses to take their grain elsewhere.
To keep rural Alberta alive, the provincial government proposed a $9,000 grant for communities to create a tourist attraction that would help support the local economy.
“Desperate to salvage their beloved town, residents had three meetings looking for an idea, but nothing stuck,” Kurta told us. “Just as they were ready to throw in the towel, one person, feeling a little cheeky, said, ‘Why don’t we stuff gophers? We’ve got enough of them!’ After they were all done laughing, this is exactly what they did.”
Now, before you get your pants in a bunch, we should clarify that these gophers are in no way an endangered species. In fact, they are often pests that reproduce in massive numbers and cause millions worth of damage to the agriculture industry and food supply chains. It’s for this reason that their populations need to be kept in balance.
Kurta informed us that, “Originally, the bulk of the gophers were collected by local farmers who were getting rid of them anyway… we just gave them a place to hang out.”
“Our future displays are all ethically sourced via veterinarians or people who happen to be nearby when a hawk drops them from the sky (true story). Gophers do not bounce,” Kurta says. A little grisly, but we’ll take it.
Torrington’s Gopher Museum can be found in two of the town’s oldest heritage buildings. If you visit, you’ll enter through the gift shop that sits inside an old schoolhouse over 110 years old. The museum is built in an old grain elevator office that’s been around for over 70 years.
The small museum is dark, with illuminated displays to simulate the experience of peeping into a gopher hole and discovering the secret lives they lead. The dioramas depict scenes from Torrington and the area’s history, piecing together events, businesses, and people, much like you’d find in any Canadian small town.
Kurta tells us, “Every display in the museum from the taxidermy, painting, clothing and props were created by volunteers.”
She also divulged a particularly funny incident concerning one of the more provocative gopher dioramas.
“The first display you will see when you walk in is of the campground. Inside is a furry fella BBQing and a bikini-clad beauty. Two summers ago, I put her on our social media when it got disturbingly hot in early June. The photo was pulled for being sexually explicit. I did not have the heart to tell the ‘powers that be’ that the gophers typically walk around naked.”
We didn’t realize a stuffed gopher museum would be so risqué.
The Alberta Gopher Hole Museum was originally only supposed to be around for five years. However, it’s been so popular that it’s kicking off its 30th season this spring.
The museum is a volunteer-run organization, so it tends to “hibernate” during the off-season. Don’t worry, though. If you really can’t wait to see the gophers, you can make an appointment by emailing go4museum@gmail.com. They try their best to accommodate off-season visits depending on volunteer availability, so be flexible and plan ahead.
Of course, being the director of a stuffed gopher museum isn’t the most conventional of careers. So we asked Kurta what her favourite part was about working there:
“My parents helped build the place and ran it for decades. What I truly love about this museum is not the museum itself or even the displays, but the attachment and love so many people have for it. We have had engagements there, weddings, reunions, bridal showers… There are even ashes sprinkled on the property. The museum has been there through the important times in people’s lives, and most say it was a bucket list moment for them. That means a great deal to me.”
We told you it was heartwarming!
Make sure you plan a visit to Alberta’s World Famous Gopher Hole Museum this season. Not only are you helping keep a local gem alive, but no one will believe you when you tell them what you did this summer.
Distance from Calgary: 119 km
Distance from Edmonton: 224 km
When: By appointment or during seasonal hours
Where: 208 1st St. S, Torrington
Cost: Admission is by a suggested donation of $5 to $10 per person
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