Close call. Eagle tries to steel toddler.

I have read musings on another forum that it was staged at a falconry display, using a baited dummy.
 
I have read musings on another forum that it was staged at a falconry display, using a baited dummy.

I would be inclined to agree, if the kid(?) didn't turn it's head right before the eagle comes in. :thinking:
 
I would be inclined to agree, if the kid(?) didn't turn it's head right before the eagle comes in. :thinking:

he doesnt turn it, it moves forward a little, surely due to the woosh of the air as the eagle approaches - thats was the one thing that convinced me it was fake. toddlers are hardly ever compltely still and other than that tiny movement the child doesn't move at all throught the ordeal. Its a completely limp body.
 
So is it real or is it fake? I have to agree with joe on most of his points but I'm still not sure.
 
In Joe's video the child lifts his left arm just before the Eagle strikes, if it was staged during a falconry display surely there would be umpty million videos of it out there instead of just one.
 
In Joe's video the child lifts his left arm just before the Eagle strikes, if it was staged during a falconry display surely there would be umpty million videos of it out there instead of just one.

regarding the arm, see post 7.
 
In Joe's video the child lifts his left arm just before the Eagle strikes, if it was staged during a falconry display surely there would be umpty million videos of it out there instead of just one.

Shame on you for expressing doubt :LOL: :D
 
Actually I'm wrong, the bit I'm looking at is during the flight, he lifts his arm as if to pull at the claws in the back of his jacket, and entirely natural reaction. :)
 
Looks a bit fake to me.

Maention of CGI elsewhere.
 
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Scary if its true, but i would have thought a toddler would have moved about a bit
 
faker than a fake thing (I'm sure chris/cobra can give a definitive read)

bipeds are not on the golden eagles prey list - they usually take stuff like lambs, rabbits and carrion

if it had been a phillipines monkey eating eage , it would be believable (indeed they have been known to take children) but for a goldy , no way
 
faker than a fake thing (I'm sure chris/cobra can give a definitive read)

bipeds are not on the golden eagles prey list - they usually take stuff like lambs, rabbits and carrion

if it had been a phillipines monkey eating eage , it would be believable (indeed they have been known to take children) but for a goldy , no way

At last a definitive answer. (y)
 
I'm firmly on the Fake side of the fence, having watched it several times, all of the motions from the Toddler/dummy in flight can be explained as general movement as the bird tries to fly away, the lack of movement before the strike, suggests it's a dummy, and the final deciding factor for me would be the reaction of the parent. the "Run" to save the toddler is less than convincing. If that was my child, I'd be moving a lot faster than that to grab the child free from the bird.
 
I have read musings on another forum that it was staged at a falconry display, using a baited dummy.

Why would they bait a child dummy? That's like baiting a child dummy for a dog to attack :shrug:
 
What forum?..... I take it it isn't a falconry one?.

It was a football one (I think) where I first saw the link to the article ... it is all over the net, most opinion being that it is staged / faked.

For the record I have no opinion either way, not really bothered ... :D
 
It was a football one (I think) where I first saw the link to the article ... it is all over the net, most opinion being that it is staged / faked.

For the record I have no opinion either way, not really bothered ... :D

That's ok, thanks..... it's certainly not a musing on any of the falconry forums, that it was staged at a falconry display.....
 
I've noticed anything remotely 'surprising' in a photo is usually passionately declared 'photoshopped' these days, in one case it was one of my own where I was entirely certain it was not.
It doesn't stack up that a falconry centre would be effectively training a large bird to swoop on toddlers.
Why would they do that?
I think the bird protection groups have good reason to try to convince the public that no eagle would do that.
They also insist eagles only ever take a weak or sickly lamb but farmers having significant numbers taken sometimes 2 or 3 weeks old know different.
Similarly it sounds like propaganda to claim an eagle won't take a two-legged animal - are you serious?! - I'm sure that a hungry bird would try its luck with anything it could pick up.
It may well be fake but you really can't tell from that grainy clip, and trying to persuade us a very large carnivorous bird would never be so naughty as to consider a small human as prey is naive if not mischievous.
 
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- I'm sure that a hungry bird would try its luck with anything it could pick up.
It may well be fake but you really can't tell from that grainy clip, and trying to persuade us a very large carnivorous bird would never be so naughty as to consider a small human as prey is naive if not mischievous.


Or it could indicate an understanding of bird behaviour that comes from a life time spent working arround wildlife :shrug:

Point is that although a large carnivorous bird "could" theoretically take a todler, why would it chose to go totally against its experience to date and its heridtary proramming of what prey looks like ? and against all experience that suggests humans are dangerous and to be avoided

okay if it was midwinter and it was starving because there was no prey arround it might do, but on what looks like a sunny day in mid spring - wouldnt it make more sense for it to go find a rabbit/lamb/roadkill etc

The reaction of the videographer is also indicative of fakery , pop quiz

If you were filming your todler in the park and an eagle flew in and picked him up would you:

a) keep filming with nary a bobble or
b) drop the camera and do something about it ?
 
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In Joe's clip - why does the "toddler" continue to rise, after the bird has dropped it?

Also, I don't think the guy shooting the video is supposed to be the parent.
 
First comment on the YouTube video is currently

MrRazorblade999
Yep, it's fake. "A Montreal animation and digital design college has admitted that three of its students were responsible for the 'Golden Eagle Snatches Kid' video that went viral on Tuesday". From the netsite Global Montreal.

Which suggests it's fake.....
 
Also, I don't think the guy shooting the video is supposed to be the parent.

so why is he videoing a random 'toddler', possibly in anticipation of a a large eagle coming in from stage left maybe ? :LOL:
 
so why is he videoing a random 'toddler', possibly in anticipation of a a large eagle coming in from stage left maybe ? :LOL:

I figured he was videoing the eagle to start with. Would need to watch the vid again...

Edit: Video starts with him videoing the eagle, and he follows it along.
 
I don't think the video being faked means it could never happen, I was reminded of this one not faked.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWXTjkhIZ_4
It would have soon had a quite strong lamb if the mother had not literally stood over it, and that lamb will weight at least 12kg I expect.
 
Yeah but lambs are part of their natural diet - bipeds arent :bang:

with the exception of those raptors which usually prey on monkeys
 
I figured he was videoing the eagle to start with. Would need to watch the vid again...

Edit: Video starts with him videoing the eagle, and he follows it along.

did you see the link I posted proving it was fake?
 
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