Entry No. 74 — the Denver file — filed under: oddities
Chicky the Prairie Dog
In the Gems and Minerals hall sits a roughly nine-foot Brazilian amethyst geode, and if you crouch and look into the hole at its base you'll find Chicky, a taxidermied prairie dog frozen mid-wave from inside the crystals. The geode arrived from Montevideo in an anonymous hardwood crate with no paperwork and sat in storage for years; once identified, the hole at the bottom became an opportunity for a little institutional mischief. Westword named it Denver's Best Hidden Gem in 2025, and people still walk right past it.
The move: Make a game of it, race to be first to spot Chicky in the giant amethyst before telling each other where he is, then go hunt the hidden elves in the same trip.
📍 Before you go Chicky lives inside the Denver Museum of Nature & Science in City Park, so you'll need general museum admission to reach him. Head to the Gems and Minerals hall on the first floor, find the giant amethyst geode, and crouch low to the hole at its base — he's easy to miss otherwise. Parking in the museum's lots is free but fills up on weekends and free days, so arrive early. Grab the free "Hidden Elves" scavenger-hunt sheet at the lobby information desk to fuel the elf-hunting half of your visit. Pair it with a walk around City Park's lake right outside. Hours shift seasonally — check ahead.
- 📍 City Park
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Low-key
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: Gems and Minerals exhibition (first floor), Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd, Denver, CO 80205 (in City Park); look for the hole at the base of the large Brazilian amethyst geode
Hours: Inside DMNS; requires museum admission (about $25.95 adult). Open daily 9am-5pm; the geode is a permanent display in the Gems and Minerals hall. Confirm hours on the museum site.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Westword · 9news.com
last checked: 2026-06-07