The clip has been proven to be a hoax ~ Sooz

Video of eagle grabbing baby revealed to be a fake
By Agence France-Presse
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 6:50 EST

Update: The video of the golden eagle grabbing a child has been revealed to be a hoax. More details, and video evidence, below.

A YouTube video of a golden eagle swooping down and lifting a toddler off the ground in Montreal could soar to Internet stardom as the latest episode of animals behaving strangely in Canada.

Coming just a week after a monkey wearing a sheepskin coat was found wandering around an IKEA parking lot in Toronto, the video shows the massive eagle — with a roughly six-foot (two-meter) wing span, circling a public park.

The eagle then swoops down, lifts an unsuspecting toddler off the ground by its winter coat and carries it a few feet before dropping it on the grass.

After cursing in English, the French-speaking man filming the incident races over to comfort the bewildered child, who starts crying but does not appear to have been seriously hurt.

“A golden eagle tries to snatch a baby in Montreal! What if he got away with it!?” reads a caption under the video, posted by MrNuclearCat.

The video, which can be seen on YouTube, had just 311 views early Wednesday but was making the rounds on Twitter.

“Destined to be huge!” one user wrote. “Craziest video I’ve seen in a long time,” tweeted another.

The golden eagle is the largest bird of prey in North America, and can dive at its quarry at speeds of more than 150 miles (241 kilometers) per hour, according to the US National Geographic Society.

The eagle likely mistook the toddler for a rabbit, marmot or ground squirrel, its normal prey.

Watch the video, posted Tuesday on YouTube, below. [Sooz comment: same clip in op]

Update: WTVR-TV reported early Wednesday morning that the video is actually a well-executed hoax, with one YouTube user posting a breakdown of the footage showing a lack of shadows and computer effects used to simulate the child falling. [Sooz comment: second clip accessible via the end link]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/19/massive-eagle-snatches-unsusepcting-toddler-off-the-ground-and-carries-it-in-the-air/

Who ever made this video is one sick minded person(s).

After cursing in English, the French-speaking man filming the incident races over to comfort the bewildered child, who starts crying but does not appear to have been seriously hurt.

A dead giveaway.
Anglo Quebecers curse in "la langue de Moliere", not the other way around.

Aw shucks.... I shoulda known. >:(

Real life story: I had a bald headed eagle try to snatch my chihuahua last fall when we we walking the dyke. We have something like 20,000 of them around here and they are good for keeping the cats nervous.

I had a bald headed eagle try to snatch my chihuahua last fall when we we walking the dyke.

Nope, I'm not even gonna go there.

They keep the cat owners nervous, too. The hawk who lives in my back yard swoops just like that for bunnies and squirrels and stuff. The osprey who seems to scare the hawk away dives for the fish in the pond.

Birds of prey gotta live; just live elsewhere.

More NIMBY.

Where I live it is not unusual to see osprey flying right down my street with a fish in its claws. I love watching them dive for fish when I am out in the boat or even walking the dog around the creek.

When I was in Cali last month huge birds of prey were swooping down on the road chasing things right in front of the car! It was about 2 AM so I suspect they were owls.

i have no problem believeing some of these big birds could make off with a small child or a slow pet.