PLEASE DON'T SHARE THAT VIDEO YOU WILL GET EAGLES KILLED

[IDoMath]

Last edited Thu Dec 20, 2012, 01:06 AM - Edit history (1)

There is a video going viral purporting to show an eagle lifting a child. IT'S FAKE.

An eagle can only lift 1/3 of its weight and the toddler in the video outweighs the bird.

Stuff like this gets hawks and eagles shot and killed.

News articles are already reporting it is CGI. I don't even want to post those links because it just causes the video to get shared.

UPDATE: The video is now confirmed to be a fake, the creators have admitted it.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/montreal-school-admits-baby-snatching-eagle-video-is-a-hoax-1.1085355

[DetlefK]

1. In hindsight, the slo-mo scene looks different than the actual scene.

In the slo-mo scene, the eagle goes up after reaching the child.
In the scene played at normal speed, the eagle continues flying forward after reaching the child.
(But maybe my memory is just messing with me after-the-fact.)

[Nictuku]

2. Very good point

I had actually put it on my facebook page, then I commented that I thought it was a fake. But after reading your comment about it possibly getting eagles killed, I removed it. (what can I say, it was 4 am getting ready for work and I wasn't thinking straight).

Share this instead:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Decorah-Eagles/166402660081214?ref=ts&fref=ts

(I'm hoping the eagles use the old nest with the cams this year instead of the new nest they have been building)

[Poll_Blind]

3. LOL, the video is going to start a NEW EAGLE HOLOCAUST?!

I...uh...really? You really think that?

PB

[IDoMath]

4. Come visit me

and I will introduce you to eagles and hawks that have been shot and lost wings and eyes because people thought they were going to attack their children or pets.

[Poll_Blind]

5. I think you're missing the point: People who'll shoot those birds will shoot them anyway.

A video like this doesn't make people do that. Idiocy makes people do that.

PB

[IDoMath]

6. You are wrong - we've talked to these people

We have met the people who do the shooting. We KNOW WHY they shoot. We know from THEIR OWN WORDS that they have acted on fears and myths.

[Poll_Blind]

8. But on this point we don't actually disagree: You talked to idiots.

You talked to idiots who let "fears and myths" (your observations, not mine) drive them to use deadly force.

I find your cause laudable, I do. But ther's a sort of post (pre?) hoc ergo propter hoc logical fallacy that just doesn't make sense. A video is not the problem. The ignorant idiot who picks up the gun and shoots is the problem.

PB

[IDoMath]

10. No we talked to people who were ignorant, there is a difference

Idiots are people who are proud of their ignorance. We cured their ignorance too late.

This video will reinforce those fears and myths and cause more people to act on those fears.

[snooper2]

7. This eagle lifted a deer off the ground for a second

[IDoMath]

9. NO It didn't - that was the deer's momentum

Any upward movement was part of the momentum of the deer. The bird did not list the animal. There is a video showing an imperial eagle taking a goat off a cliff. IF you look carefully you will realize that from that point onward the eagle never gains altitude. It could carry that goat but not LIFT it.
There is a site that I hope comes back online where they conducted several experiments in an eagles ability to lift from the ground. It never exceeded about 3.25 lbs.

http://www.hancockwildlife.org/article.php/LiftingCapacityEagles

[snooper2]

11. So you are going to give the eagle a hard time for working out?

[IDoMath]

12. No but...

..I'm not letting him make unsubstantiated claims about his prowess either.

[snooper2]

20. These guys use eagles to take a wolf down

[IDoMath]

22. Yes, DOWN not UP and that involves a falconer

It does not translate to "Will carry your child away."

[snooper2]

24. Didn't say it did, unless said eagle was a body builder

[LTR]

13. Killing bald or golden eagles is illegal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_and_Golden_Eagle_Protection_Act

[IDoMath]

14. Which doesn't stop people who don't know that

from shooting and killing out of fear and ignorance.

[LTR]

15. I thought everyone knew that

Plus any hunter woth half a brain knows there are animals they can shoot and animals they can't.

[IDoMath]

16. Hunters aren't the problem, most hunters know the laws

The birds we receive at the center are shot by non-hunters who know nothing about the laws and who shoot because they are afraid the bird will attack their pets or children.

We have one hawk that was shot within the city. We don't know the motive at this time.

[FSogol]

17. We should also stop saying that "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

Many of these young people will become doctors and tragedy will occur if they think that during surgery, they should perform operations on the heart via the stomach. - Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding

[IDoMath]

18. When you can show me an actual case of cause and effect that end I'll laugh

Until then, my concerns are real and verified. I've heard of no cases of doctors performing heart surgery through the stomach as a result of that myth. I can show you real birds shot and injured because of people acting on their fear and ignorance.

[LTR]

21. Or go through another body part to get to the heart

[truebluegreen]

19. Doesn't look to me like the bird in the video is a golden eagle.

It's an osprey, which is much smaller (and typically preys on fish). Might weigh between 3 and 4 pounds, while an golden eagle would check in around 8-11 lbs. And yes, it will only be able to lift a third of it's weight.

I remember as a child being warned about eagles carrying away babies; I think I even saw a "picture" of such in a schoolbook.

It took us a long time to break that superstition, and the prejudice that goes with it.

[IDoMath]

23. I was wondering about that

The turn seemed too tight for an eagle but I'm not sure. I can see superimposing a smaller bird for the CGI.

[RebelOne]

25. It has already been shared with everyone in the U.S.

Good Morning America played it a couple of times today.

[Xithras]

26. The video looks real enough, but it's not an eagle.

It's an osprey. And yes, they've been documented killing dogs and small animals about the same size as the kid. They don't usually do it for food, but can be territorial and will attack anything they perceive to be a threat. If you look closely at the kid in the video, you'll see that he's wearing a hat with a pair of huge eyeballs on top of his head (parents probably thought it was "cute&quot . The osprey would have simply seen the kid as another animal.

There's no evidence either way as to whether it's CGI or not, but there's nothing in the video itself indicating that it is. Most of the expert "debunking" simply establishes the fact that it's an osprey and not an eagle or a hawk.

If the video has one lesson for parents, it's this. Don't dress your child up as a small animal and then take them to an outdoor area where they might be exposed to dogs, predatory birds, or other unfriendly animals that don't understand the meaning of "costume". Most of us are smart enough to figure that out. Some people apparently aren't.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

27. The men in the white coats are your friends... nt

[applegrove]

28. Apparently it was made by a media class in Quebec.

[IDoMath]

29. Yes, I just learned that myself

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/montreal-school-admits-baby-snatching-eagle-video-is-a-hoax-1.1085355