Wax museums and stuffed animal museums are something I dislike, but Jude Shepherd from the Blaine County Museum said, "What about three buffalo tumbling over a cliff, stampeded by Indians?" She had me hooked. Look at these little birds above. Could you tell they are stuffed?
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I was stunned at the realism of this diorama. The camera doesn't do it justice.
The Wild Life Museum is nothing short of amazing for its collection of large animals, the life-like poses, realistic artwork backgrounds and sheer numbers of beautiful, large animals.
A hunting cougar.
One giant diorama holds a pond with a beaver dam. Ducks swim on the surface and fish swim below the water line. Inside of the dam, you mama beaver with her kits.
Dahl and big horned sheep.
A coyote.
Bears in and out of their den.
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Arctic foxes. (You'll notice a spot of glare from the lights on this photo and the two that follow are really bad).
Baby coyotes playing and nipping each other in such a natural manner, I couldn't resist posting them in spite of the glare.
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You feel as though you've just come upon this little fawn as you walk in the woods. The trees,by the way, real. The talented setting worker chooses trees and bushes in the wild. She removes the branches and copies them with foliage and replaces them to look exactly like the original. Another talented artist paints and blends in the back ground.
Some trees need artificial bark. Jude showed me a piece. Its made of rubber.
A little elk calf.
And this endearing little calf scratching his ear.
And the birds, too, are plentiful and are naturally mixed with the large animal scenes.
A night scene of a porcupine in the moonlight.
I didn't count nor ask how many, but there is easily over 100 animals in this exhibit. Just a few doors down from the Blaine County Museum. Make it a point to find this marvelous jewel. Pictures only tell half the tale.
If you need another reason to stop off in Chinook, here is Kim, from the Eagles, handing me my first decent beer since I got on the road this trip, Pig Ass Porter. Yum. Jim always orders my beer by asking first for the darkest beer ya got, like 30 weight motor oil. Now that is worth swirling your tongue around.
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