Category: Drumheller

The Royal Tyrrell Museum

As Time Goes By / Jimmy Durante

The Royal Tyrrell Museum

The Royal Tyrrell Museum / Drumheller, Alberta, Canada – opened 1985.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum is not really an inspiring piece of Architecture.
It appears academic and clinical. That’s because it’s a World Class research center for Paleontology
– housing several labs and research facilities
– apart from it’s function as an amazing museum. 

There’s a few things to see outside though before you go in:
Albertosaurus – An enthusiastic Greeter

Covid interrogation.
Didn’t used to be part of a Tour.
On normal (pre-Covid) days there will be a dozen tour buses out front.
People come from all over the world and the museum would usually be packed.
Sadly, much of the time right now the Museum is closed.
PachyrhinosaurusAnd child.

No riders.
Enthusiastic tourists have occasionally damaged the models.

So they must be protected. Incredibly for the first several years Admission was FREE! 
Then they went to a donation box.
Finally they realized that people would pay anything to get in here.
But it’s worth it.

See you inside …

 

 

Dinosaur Drumheller …

There’s a lot of excellent vids on You Tube of the Alberta Badlands.
As I said earlier, when I used to explore here as young Teen I felt I was in going into areas that had never before been seen by any human being but me. 
This really fueled my wonder about all things of exploration and Paleontology.
Have a boo of this short, but entertaining video.

Come see this beautiful country for yourself some day. 

ATTACK of the TACKYSAURS !!! Episode 2

TACKYSAURS!!?

How do get rid of a Tacksaur?
Tackysaurs are occasionally vandalized by graffiti, and need to be repainted.
But that doesn’t get rid of them.
One sure method is to ram them with your car.Obviously effective, but unfortunately this also destroys your car.
Tackysaurs don’t go down easy.
But to be fair though, not all Tackysaurs are … well … Tacky.
Some are pretty good. Clever and funny.
A Stegosaurus.
Pretty good eh!?They’re everywhere!

Love this one.

Us fossils gotta stick together

That was a bit of fun and I’d say
Tackysaurs are generally looked upon with fond good humour.
Enjoy. 

ATTACK of the TACKYSAURS !!! Episode 1

Alley Oop by the Hollywood Argyles

Tackysaurus Rex
Tackysaurus Rex

They started to appear in Drumheller in the late 50’s.
And seemed pretty harmless at first.
Even amusing.
Then … slowly, surely, more and more came.
By the end of the 60’s it was too late!
The whole town was infested!

(Inserting a Wilhelm Scream here.)

The Attack of the
TACKYSAURS!!

Strange, irregular beasts of every dimension and colour!
Blighting every corner, park and byway!!

Tackysaurus Diplodocus
Tackysaurotops
Tackysaurus Pinkus
TackyStegasaurus
TackyTooth Tiger
Tackydon?
Tackydon?
TackyBatosaurus
TackyAlleySaurus
TackyAlleySaurus
TackySaurus Mysterious?

Next: Attack of the Tackysaurs – Episode 2

The World’s Largest Dinosaur?

The Flintstones Theme Song

Before heading to our B&B we drive over to 
the Drumheller Tourist Information Centre
where we see what is claimed to be
“World’s Largest Dinosaur”!
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4669428,-112.709002,3a,48.9y,17.31h,105.69t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYOtY-CNbLSbSaOSwocW3Vw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
It is BIG.
So we take a bunch of pics.

Net Photo of the World’s Largest Dinosaur 

Quite a few people here.

Look closely and you’ll see two people in the Dinosaur’s mouth!

There’s a staircase and you can go up there.
We didn’t because there was a lineup
and Covid restrictions were moving things slowly.
Some other time … maybe.
But there is a good view up there.Image from Google Maps.Approved by Gaius Flatulence III

Dinny – the former guardian of the bridge.

??
Looks like 4 Bobbies and 2 other guys trying to pull a dinosaur up a bank?
Unless it’s hollow I doubt they succeeded. 

Heading for Drum …

Working Man / Rita MacNeil

Leaving Horseshoe Canyon we head for Drumheller.
11 Miles ahead.

Back on the prairie.

Then …
We see the valley!

Down the windy road we go …
As in bygone days.
Below: Photo taken from about the same spot. 
Without the advantage of being on top of a hill. 
Image taken from the back window. (I hope)

But you can do it Virtually on Google Maps:
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4321886,-112.7092628,3a,75y,25.93h,96.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8SYA2QTdE_uJ9PgCN-oNjA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Mandatory photo op at the Dinosaur Sign.
(Wearing my Indiana Dundee hat.)

Drumheller: A bit of History

Drumheller got it’s name from a coin toss between Samuel Drumheller and Thomas Greentree.
Guess who won?
Alas, I think Greentree would have been a nicer name.

It was the Red Deer River that carved this valley and these Badlands
that run for hundreds of miles.

But wasn’t dinosaur bones that created early Drumheller.

It was coal.
Between 1911 and 1979, 139 mines were registered in the valley and over 56 million tons of coal was shipped across Canada.

The Dinosaurs came later … I mean earlier?
Tourism is the fastest growing industry in the town with thousands of people coming each year,
mainly to visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

A 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada
placed the Town of Drumheller’s population at 7,982.

Upcoming: The Royal Tyrrell Museum

Down in the valley …

Rose and I have seen more of Alberta in the last year than ever before.
We had different plans prior to Covid.
Those are on the shelf for now.

So Rose figured a couple of days in the Drumheller area would be fun.
She was right.

Drumheller is about 86 miles from Calgary – that’s about 1:40 minute drive.
No problem (unless it’s winter).

On the way this is what you’ll see. Prairie. The Great Plains.
Interrupted only by occasional valleys, coulees, rivers …
The Glaciers of the Ice Age swept the earth
and created these vast fertile farmlands.

As you near Drumheller you encounter Horseshoe Canyon.

Us Canadians love signs. We’ve got signs for everything.
But notice that message on the bottom left?
“If you find a fossil, leave it where it is.
Please take a photo and contact us.”

“Alberta has some of the strictest fossil protection laws in the world. The fossilized remains of plants and animals, or traces of their activities, are protected under the Government of Alberta’s Historical Resources Act. Violation of the Act is punishable by fines of up to $50,000 and/or one year in prison.”
https://tyrrellmuseum.com/research/found_a_fossil#:~:text=The%20fossilized%20remains%20of%20plants,important%20as%20the%20fossil%20itself.

I Was a Teenage Fossil Hunter

Before this law, in the mid 60’s I removed many fossils
and had an enviable collection.
Eventually, when we moved to New Brunswick,
I boxed up the whole lot and took them along.
After I left home and came back to Alberta my mother
donated my whole collection to a local school.
I can therefore testify that some school in New Brunswick has one of the finest collection
of dinosaur bones and fossils in the Maritimes.
I was no slob at what I did.

Below: Google aerial view of Horseshoe Canyon.

I never fossil hunted in Horseshoe Canyon however.
Why? Because it is picked over by the many people that go there.
You’d be very lucky to find anything.

There are some nice short and pretty easy hikes in the Canyon.
Just take some water. It can be hot down there in the Badlands.

I ventured into these Badlands of the Drumheller area hundreds of times.
And saw many areas that I felt no other person had ever seen.
An enjoyable adventure for a young lad.

Just watch out for these guys:

They have barbs and can go right through your shoe.

And these guys.

More coming …