New as of 2025, the Washakie Museum is excited to showcase a permanent collection of taxidermy featuring wildlife that can be found throughout Wyoming. This exhibit began with the generous donation of Flower the Bison in early 2023. Flower had been the herd bull at Hot Springs State Park in Thermopolis until he died of old age and was mounted by the late Worland taxidermist Mark Whitlock. When former State Park Superintendent Kevin Skates asked if the museum was interested in acquiring Flower, we quickly said yes...and then went to work coming up with a plan for what to do with him! By the summer of 2023, we had decided to make Flower the inspiration for a temporary exhibit titled Wild Wyoming! It was the museum’s first natural history exhibit, and it featured numerous examples of Wyoming wildlife which had been loaned to the museum for display by both community members and Nature’s Design Taxidermy in Cody. Wild Wyoming! proved to be a very popular exhibit, but, because almost everything on display was on loan to us, the exhibit had to come to an end so that everything could be returned.
Shortly after the exhibit came down, the Wyoming Game & Fish office out of Cody contacted us to see if we still needed taxidermy to display. They had a storage locker full of mounts that they were willing to donate to us if we were interested. Once again, we quickly said yes, and then had to put together a plan! We decided that we would bring back a smaller version of Wild Wyoming in our mezzanine. Sounds easy right? But how do you get a 450-pound bison 15 feet in the air?! With some carefully drawn plans, some help from friends at Pepsi, and a little luck, we managed to get not only Flower, but 20 other mounts up to the mezzanine as well. All these animals are now displayed in their new permanent home here at the Washakie Museum.
Due to the exhibit’s location, visitors can interact and learn about each of the animals using a touchscreen kiosk located near the entrance to our permanent galleries. By touching an animal on the screen, you are able learn about each animal’s physical characteristics, habitat, diet, and more. You can even listen to what they sound like in the wild. Be sure to check out this great new addition to the Washakie Museum when you are visiting!
Shortly after the exhibit came down, the Wyoming Game & Fish office out of Cody contacted us to see if we still needed taxidermy to display. They had a storage locker full of mounts that they were willing to donate to us if we were interested. Once again, we quickly said yes, and then had to put together a plan! We decided that we would bring back a smaller version of Wild Wyoming in our mezzanine. Sounds easy right? But how do you get a 450-pound bison 15 feet in the air?! With some carefully drawn plans, some help from friends at Pepsi, and a little luck, we managed to get not only Flower, but 20 other mounts up to the mezzanine as well. All these animals are now displayed in their new permanent home here at the Washakie Museum.
Due to the exhibit’s location, visitors can interact and learn about each of the animals using a touchscreen kiosk located near the entrance to our permanent galleries. By touching an animal on the screen, you are able learn about each animal’s physical characteristics, habitat, diet, and more. You can even listen to what they sound like in the wild. Be sure to check out this great new addition to the Washakie Museum when you are visiting!
THIS EXHIBIT WAS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE SUPPORT OF: Keven Skates, former Hot Springs State Park superintendent, Margaret James of the Wyoming Game & Fish Department, Quinn Bryant who permanently donated the first piece of taxidermy to this exhibit, Scott Fritzler, David Julson, and Justin “J.P.” Jones from Pepsi who donated their time and forklift expertise to move Flower, Charley Truman who built all of the platforms to hold the taxidermy, the Newell Sargent Foundation who funded part of this exhibit, and the many other volunteers and staff members who climbed ladders, lifted animals, painted, sawed, and suffered numerous splinters to make this possible.