Comments on: Caddy Carcass Comportment

By: FreeCanadianGuy

FreeCanadianGuy — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:26:44 +0000

My comment is in relation to the Cadborosaurus Willsi, or “Caddy”, and the discussion concerning size of the wooden crates the specimen is placed on, as a determining factor to calculate the dimensions of the creature.

I am familiar with wooden crates, having an interest in antiques and collectables and the crates marked “shamrock” are most certainly orange crates. The size of those crates in the photo, from 1912 to the early 1940′s (that I know for sure but could be earlier and later than this range as well) was 26 inches by 12 inches, Length by Width on the top opening of the crate, and 12 inches in Depth, usually with a vertical divider at the midpoint of the opening that extended to the top of the crate to prevent contents from shifting during transport.

I will make measurements, as best I can, based on the known dimensions of the Shamrock crate, specifically the visible edge with the name painted on it being 26 inches in length.

I hope this is helpful, and I will post my measurements as soon as I complete them! Maybe others could make the same calculations for comparison with mine, just for verification purposes.

These measurements could be important in determining what it is if, in fact, a viable candidate for comparison should arise!

By: shockbeton

shockbeton — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 04:40:46 +0000

My grandfather, and his father before him, were fishermen on the Great Lakes, so my observations may not directly translate to the Pacific North West, but the crates as I recall, were made of cedar and the wood was quite thin, something less than 1/2 inch I would say and the crates were overall about 3 feet by 1-1/2 feet by 5 or 6 inches deep.

By: shockbeton

shockbeton — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 04:33:17 +0000

Fish crates without a doubt, and the “head” of the beast is lying on a hunk of ice. The large blocky objects behind the remains are blocks of ice which, interestingly, would have been harvested from a freshwater lake in winter and stored in an icehouse through the summer covered with straw and tarps. The freshly caught fish would be packed in the crates after cleaning along with ground up ice similar in consistency to snow.

By: oroblanco1

oroblanco1 — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 08:24:26 +0000

Well there was a Shamrock salmon label so it is quite possible that they are salmon crates as suggested; I do not know the dimensions of salmon crates but this photo: shows a couple of salmon crates in proximity to men to get some idea, they look fairly large.

By: vqsnapp

vqsnapp — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 01:05:18 +0000

I found a picture of the tail. It does show the entire crate, all it says on the side is Shamrock though. Hopefully it is helpful to somebody.

By: Minnesotamonster

Minnesotamonster — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:16:12 +0000

Is the image of the original Caddy photo cropped from a larger picture? If there is an image that shows more of the crates it may make reading the printing on the containers possible and an ID of the type, size and construction material much easier.

By: John Kirk

John Kirk — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:47:47 +0000

The carcass is lying on a kitchen table in the middle and supported on either side with crates that we believe are from a now defunct salmon company. They certainly look like salmon crates that we have out here in British Columbia.

By: graybear

graybear — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:43:27 +0000

I can’t offer any info on what the caddie is resting on, but I can state that that is an absolutely beautiful model. Whoever did that is really good.