Linger Lodge

One of my true passions is photographing taxidermy.   To me the stranger, the dirtier and more perplexing the taxidermy the better.  On my recent trip to Florida, I hit taxidermy heaven.  Going on a tip from living Florida encyclopedia, Rick Kilby, I visited the magnificent Linger Lodge.

Greeting us outside the gate was a bunch of vultures eating a Possum.

Quite simply, the Linger Lodge has the best collection of weird, bad and bizarre taxidermy I have ever seen.   Upon entering you are greeted by this antichrist-esque fox.

"Chaos Reigns!"

Of course Linger Lodge is actually a bar/restaurant, not a museum, so we have to eat our food before we look around.  Of course I knew I was in for quite the treat when the waitress led us underneath a sign where their name was spelled out in actual snakes!

So after my meal of blacked alligator and green mashed potatoes, it was time to explore.

Sitting above the fireplace is the stuffed carcass of a massive gator that was allegedly killed by the owner in mortal combat, accented with a nice human leg.

Keeping with the theme, the owner also displayed a picture of his own swollen snake bit hand next to the snake that bit it....

Stuffed rattle snakes are lurking around almost every corner.....

Throughout the restaurant is some of the most wonderfully disfigured taxidermy you will ever lay eyes on.

Possibly the saddest piece of taxidermy I have ever seen is the lumpy faced cat.....

 

Take a closer look........

Nice kitty........

The official animal of the South is also represented in this twisted menagerie......

 

Check out this Otter with its gaping empty maw......

 

Or this nightmarish fox squirrel cuddling a toy koala for some reason....

Speaking of squirrels, this guy needs a dusting.....

And then we get a set of Squirrels playing various sports....

Swish!

 To not discriminate we even have a mounted person..........


Then we move into the wonderful world of Crypto-taxidermy!  We start out with this impressive "Turkey Rattler".....

And the slightly less impressive "Florida Walking Catfish".....

Of course what would any taxidermy menagerie be without the requisite Jackalope.....

 And fur covered fish........

And to cap things off we have this one-of-a-kind fantastic and inexplicable Blue Billed Othlock.....

All in all I give the Linger Lodge a Million out of five stars!

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
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Florida's Triology of the Sea

During my recent trip to Florida the family decided to spend a few days at the beach before we plunged head first in the madness the sunshine state had to offer.  We spent sometime on the beautiful Anna Maria island.

Now, I am the first one to admit, I am terrible at nature photography.  I tend to take pictures of animals in their stuffed or fiberglass states.  I do however love the ocean and all the wonderful creatures the fill it.   The Anna Maria city pier turned out to be a wonderful place for my mountain family to see the creatures of the Ocean.

As we walked up the pier we saw numerous schools of rays frolicking.

The rays even played a game of tag with some local children.

And we saw a freaking DOLPHIN!  I know that to those who live in Florida, or other locations near the ocean, this may not be that exciting of an occurrence, but for someone who grew up in Northern Indiana seeing a wild Dolphin is like seeing a unicorn.

Okay, as amazing as this experience was, I admit that is a sucky picture.......Let me see if I have a better Dolphin picture in the vault.........

That's better!

Now, the excitement didn't end with the Dolphin fin sighting.....

As we watched a large group of fishermen and fisherwomen unsuccessfully waiting for fish.  Then suddenly a woman pulls a freaking shark out of the water.

 

The shark plopped up onto the dock and thrashed around and snapped his tiny little evil teeth as children screamed.  No one seemed to know exactly what to do, until a grizzled toothless fisherman emerged from the crowd and grabbed the shark by the head.

The shark whisperer gently removed the hook and freed the shark.  But not before screaming at a kid that incorrectly referred to the shark as a hammerhead and posing for this picture.

Of course, I had now seen a Dolphin and a shark in one day.  There was only one creature missing: Florida's elusive Manatee.

Last time we were in town we were desperately in search of Manatees.  We asked the hotel clerk as well as local waitstaff.  They all told us that there was no specific place where you could just got and expect to see a Manatee.  We felt like big dumb tourists.  I mean, it was kinda of like someone coming here to the mountains and asking where is the exact location they could go see a black bear chilling out.

My wife posted our sadness on Facebook and a friend who was from the area told us that there WAS a place you could go to and expect to just see a Manatee.  Look behind the 7-11, she told us.   We drove behind the 7-11 and before we even got out of the car we saw manatees playing in the bay.

We returned the home of 7-11 Manatees, and once again, were greeted with my favorite miniature sea elephants.

I was thrilled to have seen a wild Dolphin, a wild shark, and a wild Manatee all in the same day.  But these particular Manatees were not feeling particularly generous and this time we only got a few views of their noses and flippers.

Let's see if I have any better Manatee photos in the vault.

Here is a picture I took of a Manatee in Wisconsin.......

That is taken at the wonderful Milwaukee Public Museum.

Wait a minute, did someone kill and stuff a Manatee?  Suddenly I feel kinda sad.

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
And don't forget to check out my Flickr Photostream and my Youtube Page

Breaking News: Florida's all out Attack on the Tourist

I just learned some shocking news from Roadside America.  The Florida Fish and Wildlife commission has banned the sale of taxidermied alligators posed in "unnatural" positions.

I consider this a direct assault on the American Tourist.  This new law is insanely restrictive, especially for a state whose gun laws are slightly more lax then Deadwood's.

Preserved alligator parts have been a long time staple souvenir for the Florida Tourist.   Especially, the Gator Heads that can be found at virtually any Florida tourist trap.

The official law reads:

Forbidding the sale of stuffed baby alligators that depict “an unnatural body or body part positioning.” That could mean human poses, including standing upright or waving. 

Meaning such roadside wonders like this would be outlawed.

Found in a Roadside Florida Fruit Stand

Or these wonderful Gatorbillies found at the Everglades Gator Park.

These classy little gator ash trays could very well become a thing of the past.....

Thank God Louisiana would never pass such a ridiculous law, or we would miss out on such wonderful displays as this......

At Jazz Funeral gift shop New Orleans, LA

 As well as this half man/half alligator "Rougarou" at the New Orleans Voodoo Museum.

And of course, how could you have a discussion about posing alligators in "unnatural positions" without talking about John Preble of the Abita Mystery House. 

John has made posing Alligators into unnatural positions into an art form.  Just take a look at some of his amazing work.

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
And don't forget to check out my Flickr Photostream and my Youtube Page