‘We think moose are big?’ Massive mastodon finds home in New Brunswick

A new exhibit in New Brunswick features a mastodon.

It’s more than eight-feet tall and16-feet long, weighs about 450 kilograms and costs $20,000.

And now, it’s found a home in New Brunswick.

Albert County Historical Society president Dawne McLean is in awe of the massive beast.

“I mean, wow. Can you imagine running into this fellow in the forests of Albert County. We think moose are big? How about seeing a mastodon?” said McLean.

The society, in conjunction with the Albert County Museum, recently commissioned New Brunswick sculptor Robin Hanson to recreate the mastodon who once roamed the region 80,000 years ago.

“He’s done many of these large creations, but I think that’s probably one of the largest,” said McLean. “I mean, he did a Tyrannosaurus rex for his grandson, but standing beside that mastodon is pretty big.”

Hanson supervised the transport from his end on May 19 by making sure the hairy beast was properly padded and fastened down.

“It was quite an exciting time for him,” said McLean.

Getting it from Hanson’s shop in French Lake to the museum in Hopewell Cape was quite the adventure.

“We contacted so many movers,” said Stuart Liptay, the past president of the Albert County Historical Society. “Because the size with the wheels, it was on trolleys, and so just to move it along because of the weight it took us a while to find a truck that was going to be big enough to move it indoors.”

McLean and museum managing director Janet Clouston followed behind the transport truck all the way.

“It was just like we were bringing the mastodon home,” said McLean.

There’s local history behind the exhibit.

One of the most complete mastodon skeletons ever found in North America was discovered in nearby Hillsborough in 1936 when a work crew repairing a dam found it.

More than 300 skeleton fossils were discovered and they’re now tucked away in Saint John while the New Brunswick Museum undergoes a new look.

It’s a personal story for Liptay.

His parents now own the land where the mastodon was discovered in 1936.

“So much of our history is either scattered away or it’s in the museum in Saint John,” said Liptay. “There’s never been an exhibit of the bones in the 90 years since its discovery in Albert County. So it’s important to show our history, especially our natural history.”

Liptay said the discovery in Hillsborough was one of the most important mastodon finds in North America on the eastern seaboard.

“It’s the most complete skeleton ever found, 312 bones and all when they found it which is basically half of the animal,” said Liptay.

McLean said they received a $10,000 grant from New Brunswick’s Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture to help pay for the sculpture.

The grand opening and fundraising event for the Mastodon Exhibit will take place this Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m.

The mastodon will be on display permanently and a naming contest will take place later this year.

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