The Current - The surprisingly moving tale of Alberta’s gopher museum

Episode Date: May 9, 2025

There’s something undeniably special about Alberta’s World Famous Gopher Hole Museum, with its taxidermied rodents kitted out as firefighters, hair stylists, or even enjoying a game of curling. The CBC’s Allison Dempster went to Torrington, Alta., to find out how the town came up with such an unusual tourist attraction — and why it ended up drawing the ire of Paul McCartney.

How did the internet go from this? You could actually find what you were looking for right away, bound to this. I feel like I'm in hell. Spoiler alert, it was not an accident. I'm Cory Doctorow, host of Who Broke the Internet from CBC's Understood. In this four-part series, I'm going to tell you

why the internet sucks now, whose fault it is, and my plan to fix it. Find Who Broke the Internet on whatever terrible app you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway and this is The Current Podcast. Last week, with great fanfare and trumpets and drum rolls and Rick Mercer, we announced the current Canadian Travel Bucket List. It has, on that list, beautiful places that are big because we're a big country. But we are also an equal opportunity public broadcaster. We do not want to neglect attractions that perhaps are on the smaller side of things.

And it doesn't get that much smaller than the world famous Gopher Hole Museum in Torrington, Alberta. The CBC's Alison Dempster dug into, see what I did there, dug into the story for us. Alison, good morning. Good morning, Matt. So this comes from a listener who wrote to us

to say that this place, this world famous Gopher Hole Museum is a must see. And so you made the trip to Torrington to check it out. Do you think this is bucket-list worthy? Danielle Pletka Matt, it is charmingly absurd and Canadian to the core. Matthew Feeney Excellent. Danielle Pletka Yes, yes. So if that's your jam or, you know,

if you just happen to be into taxidermy and elaborate dioramas, this is the place for you. And you might laugh at what I'm about to say, Matt, and you'd be forgiven. But I want to tell you, it was surprisingly moving. Matthew Feeney Alison Dempster, hard-bitten journalist. I did not expect you to be choked up by the Museum of Taxidermy Rodents. Alison Dempster Yeah, me neither, but stay with me on this one. Matthew Feeney Alright, so take us to the Gopher Hole Museum.

Alison Dempster Okay, so Torrington, it's a bit out of the way. It's a blink and you'll miss it hamlet surrounded by farmland northeast of Calgary. The museum is about the size of an RV. It's a seasonal operation, so it doesn't open until the May long weekend. But Laurel Kurta, the curator, gave me a sneak peek. So you're coming into the museum. Now they designed the boxes originally to make them look like they were televisions. But the idea is it's dark in here.

So the light that you get is from the dioramas themselves. And that's first of all to highlight the dioramas. But the idea is that you're walking into a gopher tunnel and you are staring into the secret lives of gophers which just happened to mimic the people up above. So I will often say that you know people think that they're looking at a bunch of funny stuffed dress gophers wearing tutus and such and a hundred percent you are. Clearly that's what you're doing. But this is also the history of this community. So each one of these boxes does tell something about the history of this area, what used

to be here. The secret lives of gophers, this is exciting. Tell me about the dioramas. Yeah, there are more than 40 of them and there are gophers at a grain elevator, a curling rink, a fishing hole, using real flies, of course. There's also an angelic gopher floating in a church diorama playing a harp, which, you know, you can buy a prayer candle with that image on it in the gift shop, by the way.

Matthew Feeney Excellent. Danielle Pletka And one of the new firefighters – one of the new exhibits, Matt, is a firefighter. It's a woodland firefighter gopher and that's just opening this year. Matthew Feeney A gopher firefighter? Danielle Pletka Yeah. Yeah. Laurel wanted to pay tribute to what fire crews do every summer, especially after the

Jasper wildfire last year. And so for this new diorama, she sourced the material for the gopher's uniform from a firefighter. So the outfit is authentic. He's wearing a little yellow coat and he's got a little shovel in his paws. So there is a lot of attention to detail at the Gopher Hall Museum. Pete Slauson And Laurel does this all herself. Lauren Henry Yeah, yeah. It's her passion project. Her parents used to run the museum, so she kind of inherited it. She and her husband have learned taxidermy together. She jokes that it's their date night activity. So she has a great sense of

humor about it all, as you can probably hear. But jokes aside, the museum means a lot to her and to the community too. Peter Van Doren Where did the idea for a museum like this come from? The idea came when Torrington was going through some tough times. This used to be a very prosperous, busy little community. We moved here from Calgary when I was in grade one, and at that time it had many stores and services,

community events. In the early 1990s, the CPR decided to pull up the railway lines. When they did that, the grain elevators fell, and they took all their business with them to other centers that still had rail, which was very unfortunate. Businesses here started to shudder. We eventually lost the school.

And that's not unique to us. That happened to small communities right across the country. So there's all kinds of little towns that used to be something that suddenly were nothing. And in our case, they were just concerned community members. They got together, they threw ideas trying to find something that would draw in people to the community. One lady eventually just tired and frustrated said, well, why don't we stuff gophers? We've got enough of them. Everybody laughed, of course. That's ridiculous. And then that's exactly what they did. So Matt, some people in the village learned how to taxidermy, some made costumes, others

made props for the dioramas. It was a real community effort, all meant to boost – be a boost for local businesses. They're trying to get people, I mean, to stop in the communities. You'd buy gas and buy supplies and that sort of thing. Yeah, exactly. But I have to tell you, it was a bumpy road to getting the museum open. When word got out about these stuffed gophers, animal rights activists didn't like the sounds of it. CBC National News covered the controversy in 1995.

You see, the American animal rights group PETA has launched an international letter writing campaign against Torrington's proposal, charging cruelty to animals. Protest letters are coming from as far away as Japan. The public thinks gophers might become extinct. This was no small campaign, Matt. Paul McCartney even wrote to say he disapproved. Excuse me? Paul McCartney wrote to say that he disapproved of this museum. Exactly. Is the letter that he sent, is that still around? Did you see that letter?

Danielle Pletka I really wanted to see it. And it used to be on display, but sadly, someone stole it. Pete O'Reilly Oh. Perhaps another story. What was the response to the protest? Danielle Pletka Well, museum organizers had some choice words for PETA. They sent a postcard telling the group to get stuffed. So the fur really flew. But the PETA activists were ill-informed in a way you might not expect, Matt, because

the thing about the world-famous Gopher Hole Museum is that there are no gophers in it. Matthew Feeney If I had, you know, that record, that record scratching sound effect, that's what I would play right now. The world famous Gopher Home Museum has no gophers. Yeah, the story really takes a turn here. Indeed. The species of rodent used to make the dioramas is in fact the Richardson's ground squirrel. So lots of people in Alberta refer to Richardson's ground squirrels as gophers,

but it's a misnomer. Matthew 14 So what happened is that back when colonists first came over to the New World, they saw something fuzzy and brown pop out of the ground. They called it a gopher because that's what they called it back home. And the name stuck. It's a colloquialism. So everybody calls these gophers. If you look up anywhere on the internet gopher, you will see Richardson ground squirrels and not actual gophers. Actual gophers. If you look up anywhere on the internet, gopher, you will see Richardson ground squirrels and not actual gophers. Actual gophers are, they're not cute.

These guys are kind of cute. So the gophers at the museum aren't actually gophers. And I guess the good news for the gophers is that they're not cute enough to be stuffed and put into a museum. How are the actual stars of said dioramas sourced? Where do they come from? Well, Laurel told me the Richardson's ground squirrels come from farmers and veterinarians in the area, the result of nature taking its course. And they are plentiful, not endangered.

But all that controversy with PETA turned out to be quite helpful. Laurel says it made the world famous Goverhole Museum, well, world famous. Danielle Pletka As strange as this seems to be protesting this ridiculous little museum, it probably propelled it into the stratosphere with millions of dollars of free advertising that it couldn't afford it on its own. So it really likely is responsible for its first five years of being alive. Danielle Pletka And now the museum is heading into its 30th year. Now, naturally, the PETA protest is captured in a diorama, Matt. It shows a hippie gopher with long hair and a rich gopher wearing a top hat in front of

the Torrington Village office. They're in a tug of war with a small gopher stretched between them. And there's one little speech bubble that says, we need this for the museum. And another sign that says, gophers against getting stuff. I'm just looking at the photo right now of the hippie gopher with the headband and everything. They have attitude at the gopher museum. That one is a fan favorite.

Yeah, some of these dioramas really pack a satirical punch. We have been hearing from Canadians coast to coast to coast, planning to spend their tourist dollars closer to home. They don't want to go to the United States. They want to stay here. They want to wrap their arms around what we have in this country. Does the Gopher Hole Museum expect to benefit from that? Katie Soule Absolutely.

Yeah. Laurel is bracing for a busy tourist season. They get roughly 12,000 visitors a season. She's already warning folks to brace for lineups. I have people tell me that they drove from, believe it or not, Victoria, Regina, Jasper, Medicine Hat, and they're coming, what are you guys doing while you're out here? We came for this. I don't know what's wrong with people. What do you think it is? What do you think it is? Actually, it's really special. So I've seen some really special things in here that I wasn't expecting.

It really means a lot to a lot of people. And one story that I'm going to highlight, we had one fellow, I think it was two falls ago, we're just getting ready to close and it's pretty slow in here. And this fellow and his friend came in and I'm talking to them in the museum, why are you here? And he said, well, I'm on my way to the Calgary Cancer Center. And he told me my grandparents brought me here when I was a little kid. And I love that memory. I've come here with my parents and we laughed and I love that memory and I cherish that. And I brought my own children here and I cherish that.

And these are the memories I want to go into my next experience with. Sorry. And yeah, I don't, again, I don't understand it but I don't have to. It means a lot to these people and I love that we're able to keep it open for them. Every time. You weren't joking when you said it was surprisingly moving. No, no. These little small, we had a real moment. Yeah. Well, let's see because these little small child attractions, I mean they aren't small. They mean a lot to people. Yeah, yeah. And if

you're lucky enough to catch Laurel Kurta at the museum this summer, she can tell you all about it. It kind of makes me think of the old Final Cafe motto, Matt, for Stuart McClain's fans. We may not be big, but we're small. Yeah, yeah. And the world famous Go4Hole Museum is small, but it contains multitudes. Alan Wilson This is the best thing I've heard all day. What a great story. Thank you very much.

Alison Dempster My pleasure. Alan Wilson Alison Dempster is our producer in Calgary. And now, for your entertainment, while you think about how and when you're going to get to the Gopher Hall Museum, here's Torrington born songwriter and musician, Dennis Oster and friends in his tribute to the museum. This is the Gopher song. As they roam from early springtime to the late part of the fall They dig their holes with pleasure, love by for everyone

Front door by door, side door, and to the just for fun Won't you come and see if the museum is a ball The name of the place at the gopher holds displays from wall to wall Some dressed in western fashion, some dressed in a natural state Some sleeping in their new found home, some eating from their plate Listen to the whistle, oh hear the gopher call As they roam from early springtime to the late part of the fall. They dig their holes of pleasure about five for every one.

Front door, back door, side door, they do them just for fun. This is the gopher song, the kind of thing you see when you're on a road trip. There have to be these sorts of places all across this country, little small town gems that make the town. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.