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No, this baby-snatching bird is not part of a Hitchcock sequel. But, according to YouTube user MrNuclearCat, the video above shows a golden eagle grabbing a baby in Montreal.

The video appears to show a bird swooping down, snatching a small child, and yes, they appear to get some air before the eagle lets go of the baby, who is later seen crying.

Many YouTube commenters have been skeptical of this "Golden Eagle Snatches Kid" video. As opennewscast wrote, "I've been working with digital images professionally for 15 years, and I'm convinced this is fake. The swoop down at 0:10 looks just like cheap CGI to me."

Others took a more comedic take, such as beepeachie, who wrote, "Son, well, I don't know quite how to tell you this, but - you were dropped on your head as an infant By an eagle."

According to National Geographic, golden eagles are the largest bird of prey in North America and protected by law. Many birds are threatened by habitat loss, though the golden eagle currently appears to have a stable population.

Golden eagles have a wingspan of up to 7.5 feet, and dive at their prey at speeds of over 150 miles per hour. Usually though, they choose to grab rabbits, marmots and squirrels... not children.

Huffington post

I think its real the kid had a hat with eyes on it very tempting for a eagle and it looks like the weight of the kid made the eagle drop him/her good vid though either way

Seen this on tv this morning, looked very real to me.

Looks real enough, there again I know little about these things. One thing for sure, I would'nt be spending my Sunday afternoons there again!
Just one question, was it his child and why would he be filming an eagle rather than his family and at such a distance? A bit coincidental maybe.

There is footage of Eagles(Golden?) on youtube catching fox,wolf,deer and goats but they would seem to have been trained into it. An easy way of hunting. No doubt we did it too,in the middle ages.

[quote=granny]Looks real enough, there again I know little about these things. One thing for sure, I would'nt be spending my Sunday afternoons there again!
Just one question, was it his child and why would he be filming an eagle rather than his family and at such a distance? A bit coincidental maybe.

There is footage of Eagles(Golden?) on youtube catching fox,wolf,deer and goats but they would seem to have been trained into it. An easy way of hunting. No doubt we did it too,in the middle ages.
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Granny we were not all around in the middle ages. Lol

I'd say fake at the moment. Ill have to download it and check it out.

@Dilly......

I was surprised a 'wild' eagle would come that close to a person (the mother), even if there was a possible prey available. Surely most wild animals/birds are pretty scared of us people - and I can't see a golden eagle flying over a park looking for food.

Could it have been a trained eagle (I won't say tame, I've had one on my arm!), trained to pick up a rag doll, then the camera is conveniently pointed at the ground (puff, puff, panicky running...), then mum is comforting a real baby, dressed the same as the rag doll?

ok had a look on my PC and Im deffo saying FAKE!!

the "swoop" in looks all wrong also notice that it looses its speed all of a sudden without actually doing anything? no big wing flare ect.

The United States of America chose the bald eagle as its symbol because it was fierce, fearless and strong, not because eagles are nice. Keep that in mind when you watch this video of a Golden eagle attempting to fly off with a baby.

The video, purportedly shot at a city park in Montreal, shows the raptor wheeling over a serene meadow, then all of a sudden swooping out of the sky and attempting to grab itself some drive-thru dinner in the form of a robust-looking toddler. The eagle, flummoxed by the child’s weight and fast-acting father, took off sans snack.

While the image is stunning and Hitchcockian, it is most likely fake.

Luckily for all us lazy internet sleuths, Gawker has already rounded up plenty of reasons why the video is probably a hoax, including the fact that, according to bird expert Kenn Kaufman, “the bird in the video is not a Golden Eagle, nor anything else that occurs in the wild in North America.” Plus, the evil eagle incident wasn’t covered in any Canadian news source, although that will probably change with the buzz building around the internet.

Even if it is fake, it’s fun to watch just for the excellent use of the Chariots of Fire theme song.

Seems it was fake. Good one though.

Video: Eagle Prank Video Debunked
Enlarge EmailThree students from Canada have admitted creating a fake video that appears to show an eagle snatching a child.

In the first 24 hours it was online, the clip of the eagle swooping and lifting the toddler off the ground was watched more than five million times.

But a university in Montreal has since confirmed the video was made as part of a 3D animation course and that both the eagle and the child are fake.

Centre NAD said in a blog post: "The child and the eagle were created using 3D animation by the students and then dropped into real footage."

The three students - Normand Archambault, Loic Mireault and Felix Marquis-Poulin - received top grades for their efforts.

Although many people were fooled by the animation - including media outlets around the world - there were early claims that it was technological trickery.

But Twitter user DocWan echoed the thoughts of many on the site: "If the eagle video is fake, it's a really well-made fake."

I suspect that the orca snatching a bloke off the beach is the same. How can anyone just carry on filming when that sort of thing happens right in front them I don't know, especially if it's supposed to be a mate.