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Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Night at the Royal Alberta Museum

Last weekend I (and a few thousand others) paid a last visit to the Royal Alberta Museum, in the building it has occupied since 1967. Not to worry, the museum isn't closing -- it's just relocating, to a larger (yet-to-be-completed) facility right downtown. Although I'd only visited the Royal Alberta Museum once (while I was here on an elective in September 2013 and playing tourist) I could appreciate that a lot of the crowd felt nostalgic walking through the original galleries for a final time. I mean, if the Royal BC Museum, the setting of my childhood museum adventures, were ever to close, I'd be pretty sad as well.
old royal alberta museum
The Royal Alberta Museum did have some great displays. My favourites were the dioramas of Albertan wildlife -- moose, mountain goats, and the like -- which were housed before some pretty 3D-looking backdrops.
royal alberta museum moose
so at least I have one (stuffed) moose sighting to show for my time in Alberta
royal alberta museum cougar
cougars -- the cubs still have cute spotted fur!
royal alberta museum eagle
golden eagles
royal alberta museum swan
trumpeter swans
royal alberta museum goats
mountain goats -- straight outta Jasper
royal alberta museum bison
bison (apparently they're bison, not buffalo)
royal alberta museum elk
various ungulates -- don't they look so expressive?
My favourite animal being birds, I really appreciated their (super organized) Albertan birds display, as well as their array of every conceivable kind of egg.
royal alberta museum owls
Hedwig and co (and some photobombing gulls)
royal alberta museum woodpeckers
if you've ever wondered about the differences between downy, hairy, and pileated woodpeckers, here you go
royal alberta museum flicker
flicker (I've actually seen these on Vancouver Island!)
royal alberta museum owl
lousy lighting, but it was the only porcupine on display (another Albertan animal I'm determined to spot in the wild)
What this museum had (and the RBCM doesn't) were live animals -- fish, snakes, insects -- which people seemed to either love or hate. I don't particularly mind creepy crawly things (like this) so found them to be pretty interesting.
royal alberta museum bugs
giant Malaysian cicadas
royal alberta museum snake
bullsnake
royal alberta museum butterflies
those who don't like live bugs can peruse this huge butterfly display
royal alberta museum butterflies
some of the specimens dated back to the 1800s!
The large First Nations gallery housed a walk-through teepee, artifacts, and interesting dioramas of the bison hunt and salmon fishing, amongst other things. Having only learned about the coastal groups in school, it was interesting to read about the history of the plains people -- and familiarize myself with historical figures like Anthony Henday (whose names we see in street and building names).
royal alberta museum first nations
First Nations diorama; spot the HBC blanket :)
royal alberta museum first nations
there was so much detail and depth in this diorama -- the picture just doesn't do it justice
There was also a dinosaur room and a huge geology display of beautiful rocks and minerals.
royal alberta museum dinosaur
Albertosaurus
royal alberta museum rocks
one of many mineral display cases
royal alberta museum minerals
ammolite -- a gemstone found in the Rockies, derived from fossilized ammonite shells (Alberta used to be beneath an inland sea!)
royal alberta museum geology
rainbow
All in all, the Royal Alberta Museum is a really great attraction that I was fortunate to experience in its original site. That being said, I'm looking forward to checking out the new location!
edmonton river valley
view from the museum grounds...I can see why they want to make the old building into the Lieutenant Governor's house :)

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