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Things took a turn for the wild at Alice Springs Desert Park in Australia when a huge eagle that was part of a bird show tried to snatch up a young boy by the hood of his sweatshirt. NT News in Australia reports that what was supposed to be a fun and entertaining time at the Eagle Encounter show became a bit too close of an encounter for comfort for the young kid.
According to NT News, the boy sustained a gash to the face, but was otherwise uninjured after the wedge-tail eagle tried to carry him off. Another person who was in attendance at the eagle show was able to snap a photo of the moment the eagle got ahold of the boy's hood:
My kid had to research animals that attack humans and there are accounts of eagles attacking children. I think in Africa, if I recall, there is a large eagle (maybe harpy?) that has likely taken at least one child. And a story from scotland that holds some water. But most stories are of dive bombs and near misses. But we didn't find anything super documented.
On the other hand, domesticated pigs kill people way more then you would imagine!
Look at the photo. No matter the eagle's intent, there's no way that it could ever carry away someone that big because, you know... physics.
I'm sure that somewhere, at some point in human history, a bird of prey has made off with a human infant. But not a six-year-old.
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Wedge-tail eagles are impressively sized birds: fully grown they have a wingspan of about nine feet and can lift things as heavy as 10 pounds in their claws. Clearly the boy weighed too much (NT News says witnesses to the attempted grab guessed the boy was around 6-years-old) for the eagle to carry him away, but it appears from the photos that the bird made a sincere effort.
I'm sure it was traumatic but it's also pretty comical for some of us who weren't there and have a dark sense of humor
Reminds me of an old New Yorker cartoon - massive bird of prey is flying off with a grown man petrified and dangling from its talons. Running along on the beach below is his wife hollering "for gods sakes, drop the keys!"
Did you look at your second link? The snopes link? There's a huge red X and in bold letters: FALSE. It's right at the top of the page. Right under the picture.
Good job. Beat me to it. Birds of prey have talons, not claws...
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