East Coast son Kenny sent this video, noting his reaction was the same as the guy in the film; an encounter with a golden eagle in a Montreal park:
You can take the eagle out of the wild, but you can’t take the wild out of the eagle.
Looks mostly like a golden eagle to me — anyone want to make the case it’s a different bird?
What’s going on in Montreal, I wonder, that would make a golden eagle think a human baby might make a good meal? (No, I don’t think the bird was trying to give the kid a thrill.)
Other reports of similar incidents around Montreal?
Update: WHAT? IT’S FAKED? Thoughtful reader Luisa in comments refers us to Chris Clarke’s Original Blog™ Coyote Crossing, which updates from expert birder Kenn Kauffman who says, as I wondered, it’s not a golden eagle, and other things look hoaxed. (While you’re looking around, check out Luisa’s Crow and Raven; bird photos that will make you jealous.) You’d think an incident like that would have made it to the newspapers and television stations in Montreal, but I’ve found nothing — have you?)
Update, December 19, 2012: Now the CBC covers the tale, noting that it is most likely a hoax. The film’s maker or YouTube poster has not defended it that I can find. Watch carefully — the “baby” doesn’t move during the time it’s on the ground, through the bird’s plucking it up and dropping it. There’s plenty of time to swap a dummy out with a real kid in the stroller while the camera is pointed away. CBC found a Montreal ornithologist who claims it looks more like an osprey than an eagle. I’ll buy that.
More:
- At The Atlantic blogs, Adam Clark Estes provides a smattering of history of similar events, but avoids saying it means it’s the End of Days only barely.=
Posted by Ed Darrell 
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 