And now for something completely different... the Torrington Gopher Hole Museum!
Torrington is an agricultural hamlet in central Alberta with a population of 170 people. In prior years the hamlet had been steadily shrinking and the place was basically on its way out. Several years ago the locals came up with a great idea to boost the hamlet’s economy and put the place back on it’s feet – why not utilize the humble gopher (which are in abundance in the area and a huge pest for the prairie farmer) to portray the past heritage of Torrington. Putting the idea into action, the Gopher Hole Museum was born.
The Museum consists of stuffed (taxidermied) gophers who have been meticulously dressed and placed in scenes (called dioramas) with speech bubbles. The Gopher Hole Museum has become wildly popular worldwide. Thousands of people come to this little hamlet from all over the world to see the stuffed gophers in their dioramas.
Additionally, the village has a larger than life gopher mascot (Clem T. GoFur), and the locals have painted all the fire hydrants to resemble gophers.
