Dad accidentally orders 19ft Carnotaur statue for his dinosaur-mad son that was ‘dropped into garden by crane’
A DAD accidentally ordered a 19ft dinosaur statue for his son which had to be dropped into his garden by a crane. Andre Bisson, from Guernsey, spent £1,000 on the prehistoric animal for his four-year-old, but only realised how big it was when the delivery company said it wouldn’t fit in their truck. His son, […]
A DAD accidentally ordered a 19ft dinosaur statue for his son which had to be dropped into his garden by a crane.
Andre Bisson, from Guernsey, spent £1,000 on the prehistoric animal for his four-year-old, but only realised how big it was when the delivery company said it wouldn’t fit in their truck.
His son, Theo, first asked for a dinosaur after watching the Disney classic “Dinosaur”.
He told his dad that he wanted “the biggest Carnotaur you’ve ever seen”, which was his favourite species.
Carnotaurs lived in South America around 70 million years ago, and were around 20ft long.
Dad Andre found what he was looking for after his wife noticed that an amusement park on neighbouring Jersey was selling its old stock of dinosaur statues.
Mr Bisson told the Sun Online: “I searched and searched for the one that he saw, but couldn’t find it… Then his mum sent me a link on Facebook about Tamba Park in Jersey selling all their equipment which included their dinosaurs.
“I checked the website straight away, and to my absolute amazement they had a Carnotaur! Listed for £1,000, I just had to get this for Theo.”
He said that with only a small photo to go off, he had to guess the dinosaur’s size: “The issue was as this was being sold off online, there was only a thumbnail image to try and gauge the size, no details whatsoever and no one to ask, I didn’t care really!
“I knew he would be big, I estimated 3m long x 1.5m max… as it turns out, he was much bigger at 5m long x 2.3m high.”
Thankfully he was well strapped in, although when he was being lowered in a gust of wind started him spinning in the air. His tail missed my dormer window by less than an inch!
Andre Bisson
When the dinosaur arrived, he was so big that he had to be lifted into the garden by a JCB crane.
Mr Bisson said: “The delivery team literally took about 30/40 minutes from when they arrived along the coast to Chaz being dropped in.
“The thought did cross my mind that if Chaz were to drop or fall through a roof, I was imagining the phone call to my insurance broker… ‘Ok sir, exactly how did a 20ft long hole appear in your roof?’… ‘Well, a fully grown Carnotaurus fell from the sky.’
“Thankfully he was well strapped in, although when he was being lowered in a gust of wind started him spinning in the air.
“His tail missed my dormer window by less than an inch!”
Delivery was made even more difficult when Chaz soaked up the rain from a downpour in Jersey, making him weigh two tons.
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He had hoped to get the dinosaur, who his son called Chaz, delivered in time for Christmas, but realised it wouldn’t be possible because of his size.
Mr Bisson told Unilad: “Theo didn’t want to go to school as he didn’t want to leave him, he thought he’d be home alone – he wanted to take him on the yellow crane.
“He said he was hungry, so we cooked fish fingers and fed him. Theo and Chaz are best buds – he’s got a pet dinosaur!”
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