Friday 12 October 2012

Torrington, Alberta "A Hamlet of Gophers"

This summer while shooting in Calgary, I decided to steer clear of the Calgary Stampede and instead I sojourned 160 km northeast to the intimate hamlet, former village of, Torrington, Alberta. Population : 192.

My pilgrimage to Torrington was to seek out the Gopher Hole Museum. A Museum home to 44 exhibits of stuffed Gophers dressed and displayed in amusing anthropomorphic settings.

LIke this Cirque du Soleil inspired Gopher.

Clown Gopher

Or this Cirque du Soleil inspired Gopher.


Angel Gopher
Or this one.

Flower Gathering Gopher
And of course this one.


Duck Hunting Gopher


There were 44 dioramas featuring 77 gophers in countless hybrid human/gopher situational settings. And as I drove back those 160km to Calgary, towards the Stampede, I thought to myself - while I missed the thrill of the Chuck Wagon races I had witnessed visions of tiny gophers doing all the things they must have only dreamed of.