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.
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| Clown Gopher |
Or this Cirque du Soleil inspired Gopher.
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| Angel Gopher |
Or this one.
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| Flower Gathering Gopher |
And of course this one.
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| 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.
