The call of the wild
Yesterday I visited the Manyal Palace, built around the 1900’s for Prince Mohammad Ali, a monarch-hopeful who never made it to the throne. The interior is a fabulous display or Turkish influenced architecture. But we’re not here to talk fabric and tile.
By far the best part of the palace is the Hunting Museum. Created entirely from animals killed by King Farouk and his friends, it’s a long and narrow corridor on the side of the grounds. It is filled with over 300 gazelle heads, 35 ducks and many other dead animals.
I understand the collection of gazelles. I am from Wisconsin, it is not uncommon to enter a friend’s home and find decapitated deer hanging off their wall. But, Ducks? Sure, maybe a mallard and a lady duck on display. Come on, King Farouk, thirty-three ducks?
Ducks aren’t that hard to kill, I’ve watched Emily try numerous times with a spatula and some raid.
Watch out ducks, she once called me sobbing hysterically cause she thought she heard a bat in her bedroom, but she’s not messing around anymore.
Now if there’s one thing we know I love its dead animals. But the display had by some of the creepiest attempts at taxidermy I’d ever seen.
If loving bad taxidermy is wrong, then I don’t ever want to be right.
What is that thing? Supposedly it's a hermaphroditic goat. Which is awesome.
Now, I’m not a stickler when it comes to displaying animals or anything, but what exactly is so amazing about all those hooves. I get it, deer come in various sizes, and you’ve killed them all. Well done, let’s move on with our lives. Please note the especially unfortunate braided deer leg. Somehow I have nightmares of hipsters sporting similar examples at NY hot spots.
“This belt? Complete vintage. King Farouk, 3rd Dynasty. Natch.” (clearly, I have no idea how indie kids speak)
At the very end of that long hallway was the best part. Roped off so you couldn’t get closer than 5 feet, was the best display of Sahara animals, ever. Obviously, I wasn’t about to let arbitrary boundaries stop me.
An up close look showed some sad, sad road kill. Despite being covered in dust, the poor bastards who set up the display seemed to have no understanding of the natural world. Foxes were chilling with sea turtles, lions were spooning with salamanders, and birds, well, they didn’t even have wings.
Animals that in life would’ve been natural enemies were forced to spend eternity at an imaginary Egyptian tea Party.
My two favorites though was the ocelot made from a saddlehorse, and the lion fighting the deer to the death.
I was just waiting for the traffic cone wombat.
I don’t know about you guys, but my money’s on the deer. Clearly that little guy has a good grip on the Lion’s neck, while the Lion only has one foot in the mouth. What is that shit? Everyone loves when the underdog wins.
Upon closer inspection I learned why the deer was so obviously kicking ass. The lion’s body had been replaced with canvas. It wasn’t even a fair fight. The lion had no arms, or claws. Well at least that also means he didn’t have a central nervous system and couldn’t feel the pain. (Or the humiliation of losing to a herbivore.)
I think the curators need to spend a little more time in high school biology before they create their next display.
By far the best part of the palace is the Hunting Museum. Created entirely from animals killed by King Farouk and his friends, it’s a long and narrow corridor on the side of the grounds. It is filled with over 300 gazelle heads, 35 ducks and many other dead animals.
I understand the collection of gazelles. I am from Wisconsin, it is not uncommon to enter a friend’s home and find decapitated deer hanging off their wall. But, Ducks? Sure, maybe a mallard and a lady duck on display. Come on, King Farouk, thirty-three ducks?
Ducks aren’t that hard to kill, I’ve watched Emily try numerous times with a spatula and some raid.
Watch out ducks, she once called me sobbing hysterically cause she thought she heard a bat in her bedroom, but she’s not messing around anymore.
Now if there’s one thing we know I love its dead animals. But the display had by some of the creepiest attempts at taxidermy I’d ever seen.
If loving bad taxidermy is wrong, then I don’t ever want to be right.
What is that thing? Supposedly it's a hermaphroditic goat. Which is awesome.
Now, I’m not a stickler when it comes to displaying animals or anything, but what exactly is so amazing about all those hooves. I get it, deer come in various sizes, and you’ve killed them all. Well done, let’s move on with our lives. Please note the especially unfortunate braided deer leg. Somehow I have nightmares of hipsters sporting similar examples at NY hot spots.
“This belt? Complete vintage. King Farouk, 3rd Dynasty. Natch.” (clearly, I have no idea how indie kids speak)
At the very end of that long hallway was the best part. Roped off so you couldn’t get closer than 5 feet, was the best display of Sahara animals, ever. Obviously, I wasn’t about to let arbitrary boundaries stop me.
An up close look showed some sad, sad road kill. Despite being covered in dust, the poor bastards who set up the display seemed to have no understanding of the natural world. Foxes were chilling with sea turtles, lions were spooning with salamanders, and birds, well, they didn’t even have wings.
Animals that in life would’ve been natural enemies were forced to spend eternity at an imaginary Egyptian tea Party.
My two favorites though was the ocelot made from a saddlehorse, and the lion fighting the deer to the death.
I was just waiting for the traffic cone wombat.
I don’t know about you guys, but my money’s on the deer. Clearly that little guy has a good grip on the Lion’s neck, while the Lion only has one foot in the mouth. What is that shit? Everyone loves when the underdog wins.
Upon closer inspection I learned why the deer was so obviously kicking ass. The lion’s body had been replaced with canvas. It wasn’t even a fair fight. The lion had no arms, or claws. Well at least that also means he didn’t have a central nervous system and couldn’t feel the pain. (Or the humiliation of losing to a herbivore.)
I think the curators need to spend a little more time in high school biology before they create their next display.
2 Comments:
It has the limbs of a Deer, but I still think it's a Hyena...
I don't think those last two pictures were of the exhibit, but rather the storage room you wondered into.
Also, I think we should put a live baby deer and a live head but not the body of a lion in the same room to see what would really happen.
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