Moncton — It’s a sad day for outdoor enthusiasts with the Moncton Cabela’s location closing less than three years after the store opened.
Bass Pro Shops bought Cabela’s in 2016. Today Cabela’s customers were turned away, and directed toward the Bass Pro in Champlain Place for all their fishing- and hunting-related purchases.
As laid-off employees mulled transfers to the Dieppe Bass Pro or the Halifax Cabela’s, the question on everyone’s mind was what would become of the closing store’s stuffed wildlife.
“We weren’t sure what to do with all these lifeless critters,” said Cabela’s spokesperson Nate Barrington. “They’re part of the family too, and we didn’t want to just dump them in the Chocolate River or something. Thank heaven the good people at Magnetic Hill Zoo called us this morning and made us an offer we couldn’t refuse.”
Magnetic Hill is “adopting” all of the stuffed creatures, from bears, to mountain goats, wolves, and elk.
“Not sure why we hadn’t thought of this before — we could have been displaying local taxidermists’ handiwork for years alongside our more traditional ‘living’ animals,” zoologist Renée Parks told The Manatee.
“The zoo can’t afford to get new real animals these days, with attendance numbers down and the rising costs of feeding and keeping them alive,” said Parks. “Honestly, zoo patrons won’t even notice the difference. Our animals are pretty listless this time of year anyway, just lying there looking miserable and dead-eyed.
“The stuffed ones will probably be more believable as actual animals.”
Trapper Joe Jardine of Mountain Road expressed his dismay at the closure of Cabela’s.
“I love this place and I’ll be sad to see it go — best spot to get live traps and any gear ya need. But part of my reason for shopping here was that I got to look at all those exceptional taxidermy jobs, got to see that permanently bright sheen to their coats, and admire their the pointy teeth forever bared. It is quite a consolation that I can still go visit them all at the zoo.”
The zoo, however, will be raising its entry fee to $50 per person.
“Well, c’mon, these new animals we’re getting are of much higher quality,” reasoned Parks. “Our pricing will reflect that improvement.”