34 replies to this topic

[Alpha_ProgDes]

That an eagle couldn't even pick him up and fly away.

[Dynamo_Maestro]

Hmm, I hope that eagle ISNT hunted down and killed, in fact I really hope I dont hear a story about it being killed later. Is it bad thats the only thing I was concerned about in the vid?

[Gavin Williams]

As precious as human life is, I would say that the life of that Golden Eagle is more precious in the scheme of things, so I wouldn't raise an eyebrow at your concern.

[slicer4ever]

this thread title is very misleading, that kid looks average size for his probable age.

Edited by slicer4ever, 19 December 2012 - 06:00 AM.

[Michael Tanczos]

The kid is a toddler totally at the mercy of their parent's protection. I'm surprised at the lack of empathy here.. this isn't a funny clip at all. Though to be fair, I am the parent of a toddler myself.

[Kickpuncher]

The kid is a toddler totally at the mercy of their parent's protection. I'm surprised at the lack of empathy here.. this isn't a funny clip at all. Though to be fair, I am the parent of a toddler myself.

Agreed, though it's Montreal so I'm not really surprised at the reaction of the people around. I'll never find humor in anything involving toddlers getting hurt, especially with this birds intent... Christ, I've got my dog close to me if I see any large ass birds flying around.

I do like this clip for the fact that I do find Bald Eagles amazing birds even if this one was a bit of an asshole. I wikipedia'd Bald Eagle after watching this and what's up with their eyebrows? they look angry all the time. Like my wife.

[Shaquil]

It was all good until they did the slow-mo and showed the kid actually getting dropped on his back.

Also, KICKPUNCHER!!!!!

[Kickpuncher]

Also, KICKPUNCHER!!!!!

Word.

[Olof Hedman]

Seems most people are agreeing that the clip is fake anyhow, so no need to get worried about neither the kid nor the bird

One of the most compelling arguments I've seen (but can't verify) is that the bird does not look like any eagle that is indigenous to north america.
And that they normally can lift 2-3 kg so a kid that age is way out of their size.

Edited by Olof Hedman, 19 December 2012 - 07:46 AM.

[rip-off]

Seems most people are agreeing that the clip is fake anyhow, so no need to get worried about neither the kid nor the bird

One of the most compelling arguments I've seen (but can't verify) is that the bird does not look like any eagle that is indigenous to north america.
And that they normally can lift 2-3 kg so a kid that age is way out of their size.

For me, it was the kid's reaction. Most kids cry at merely falling over, let alone being hoisted into the air and unceremoniously dropped again. I was getting a more "I appear to have dropped my delicious ice cream" vibe.

That and I've been told that the big birds of prey can exert more pressure with their talons than an rottweiler's jaw...

[cowsarenotevil]

If it's fake it's probably the most impressive fake I've ever seen. There's no masking artifacts even though the parent occludes the eagle and the eagle occludes the kid. All of the shadows and lighting match up perfectly at all times and there are no overlap artifacts on the shadows either. All of the reactions seem awfully real to me, too. Also the shot seems like it's actually handheld (rather than the motion being added in post) so that means there would need to be some very accurate motion tracking in order to fake this too.

I guess it could have been faked with some kind of doll that was bait for the eagle that was swapped for a real kid while the cameraman is looking down, but that sounds pretty ridiculous and unpredictable.

I'll go with Occam's razor on this one: if it were fake a) there would be no reason to set it up such a difficult shot as there would be other ways to get roughly the same effect and b) I'd expect there to be some evidence of manipulation, and I can't find any.

The only reason not to believe it that I can see is that it's such an amazing video, but I imagine that it's ultimately just as likely that somewhere an incident like this has been caught on video than that someone would go too all the trouble of making such a convincing fake in roughly the most difficult way possible for seemingly no reason.

Edited by cowsarenotevil, 19 December 2012 - 08:30 AM.

[proanim]

The video is probably not a fake, and I find it very interesting. You don't see this kind of thing every day.

[brx]

Well, looking at this video: it does look like a fake to me. The way the kid keeps on going after the eagle let go doesn't look right to me.

Another thing that has been mentioned in an article about this video is that such an eagle would first kill the prey on the ground and then carry it away instead of carrying away the living prey (don't know if that is true, I am not to familiar with how eagles do this kind of thing). To be complete, here's the article (it's in German though): http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/angebliche-adler-attacke-in-kanada-youtube-video-scheint-gefaelscht-a-873816.html

Edited by brx, 19 December 2012 - 09:08 AM.

[Olof Hedman]

I guess it could have been faked with some kind of doll that was bait for the eagle that was swapped for a real kid while the cameraman is looking down, but that sounds pretty ridiculous and unpredictable.

The only reason not to believe it that I can see is that it's such an amazing video, but I imagine that it's ultimately just as likely that somewhere an incident like this has been caught on video than that someone would go too all the trouble of making such a convincing fake in roughly the most difficult way possible for seemingly no reason.

People have done a lot more ridiculous things to make a good youtube video and get a few oohs and ahs.

I don't see it as that unlikely that the bird is a trained falconeering bird, and the child being picked up being a doll.
In fact, I see this as extremely likely given that a bird that size shouldn't be able to lift a 7-8kg child even a foot above ground.
The running-with-the-camera is an excellent time for a switch.

I also think the child should be more injured from both the fall and the claws of the bird if it was actually attacked, and a lot more chocked.

Its not that hard to set up, no need for computer trickery, and a lot more likely then a wild big bird even being anywhere near a park with lots of people.
Bird attacks like that, even if occasionally reported, is highly debated if they actually occur at all, or is just urban legends, so if they occur they are extremely uncommon, so even less likely to get this good footage of one.

Edited by Olof Hedman, 19 December 2012 - 09:17 AM.

[Kickpuncher]

I actually don't find this too difficult to believe. The eagle knew that there was movement around it's prey so maybe that's why it just tried to grab the child and take off with it. If the child were alone though this could have been a MUCH different and sad story.

I remember this story on the news last year. Similar but with a dog; an 18lb dog.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43101663/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/t/near-death-drop-winds-saving-dogs-life/#.UNHbTeLAd8E

[way2lazy2care]

That kid is going to have a sweet story when he gets older.

[phantom]

Assuming between now and then some other animal doesn't carry him off of course...

[Kickpuncher]

case closed.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/the-squawking-skeptics-were-right-eagle-video-is-a-student-hoax/article6552948/

[way2lazy2care]

case closed.

http://www.theglobea...article6552948/

So they made a toddler cry for entertainment?! sickos.

[Alpha_ProgDes]

I did find it odd that the child cried much much later after the bird flew away. But now I guess we can talk about how well they did with the making the video fake.