This was in the local paper--from a hunter in Montana.

That's CRAZY!

quote Originally posted by Brian Lamberts: This was in the local paper--from a hunter in Montana.

Many years ago my next door neighbor was looking out his back window at his little dog, chihauha (spelling?), when all of a sudden he saw an owl swoop down and try to nab the poor little thing. The dog was knocked for a loop and when the guy ran out to get his dog the owl was coming in for another pass!
Weird thing is a year or so later they were accusing another neighbor of stealing their dog, I always wondered if maybe that owl finally returned to finish what it had started.

What if your pet is a bird?

quote Originally posted by Phranc: What if your pet is a bird?

Why does the caged bird sing? Cause it's safe from the bigger birds!

that's a crazy pic.

at one time it was not unheard of for babies to get snatched by a large hawk or owl.

I remember a case in Indiana or Illinois a number of years back, about this woman hearing her 5 year old yelling and ran out in the back yard to see him being carried away by a huge bird that looked like a buzzard. She grabbed him by the legs and it released him and flew off. Later the same day some hunters not far away filmed a big bird flying by a lake they estimated to be 15-20 feet across. The film they had showed no background objects to give any real idea of the size relationship. Several hundred years ago also, the indians told tales of a ' thunderbird ' in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where they would routinely have children carried away never to be seen again.

Mating Season?

quote Originally posted by F-I-E-R-O: Mating Season?

Why is seeing animals hump funny and natural but watching people hump is sinful and dirty and bad?

old photo?

Surely no one believes that bird would ever get airborn with that fox.

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: about this woman hearing her 5 year old yelling and ran out in the back yard to see him being carried away by a huge bird that looked like a buzzard. She grabbed him by the legs and it released him and flew off.

No offence to roger, but I call BS on this one. The lady's story, not roger remembering it of course. No bird big enough to fly away with a five year old off the ground.

Kevin

Im sure a 15 foot bird can carry a 60 pnd kid. There was a program on Tv about it and indian legends of thunderbirds. Animal specialists said there def are south american buzzards that have that wingspan and they speculated that this could have been one that migrated into unknown territory by mistake, possibly headed into the rockies or canada. Im not saying that it was true, but there are lots of stuff out there we havent found yet. Like I pointed out once before, no one except african natives believed there was a such thing as a gorilla until the 1930s when they brought out the first one. Now, everyone knows there real. And dont forget the Cealecamp (spl) a fish still caught off of Madagasgar all the time that supposedly died in the age of dinosaurs.

quote Originally posted by Lambo nut: Surely no one believes that bird would ever get airborn with that fox. No offence to roger, but I call BS on this one. The lady's story, not roger remembering it of course. No bird big enough to fly away with a five year old off the ground. Kevin

As an owner of two birds no where near the size of a buzzard or great eagle I find it very plausable that a the bird in the OP pic will get airborne. I don't know how big a 5 year old is but if its as big as a fox a big bird could carry it off.

quote Originally posted by Phranc: What if your pet is a bird?

Then you kick ass!

Unless it's one of those "snack" birds. Then you suck.

At any rate this has got to be the coolest topic evar. Birds of prey are nature's sprinkle of "awesome" in an otherwise dull world.

And I don't doubt for a second that really happened - in the picture. Those birds are seriously badass.

From what I've read the bird should be able to easily carry something equal to it's own weight.
For comparision, the largest harpy eagle thats been weighed (key word here is weighed) was 29lbs, my girlfiends full grown Bichon (spelling?) weighs about the same.
It's unlikely that the bird pictured could fly off with that fox, but I would not rule out the possiblility. Wet that fox and it may be a starving bag of bones, it's look does not really give you a good idea of how much the fox weighs.

There's been many cases of puppies and small dogs being carried off by birds of prey.

quote Originally posted by DRA: There's been many cases of puppies and small dogs being carried off by birds of prey.

Now this I don't doubt, as they catch small rabbits and such.

The picture, with that bird and that fox, I find highly unlikely.
Any normal weight five year old, and any bird, I find highly unlikely.
Swooping down, and knocking someone/something over, yes. Actually picking them up, and flying away no.
(She grabbed him by the legs and it released him and flew off.) give me a break.

Maybe she heard screaming in the back yard, and saw a bird "trying" to carry away the kid, then grabbed the legs of the bird, and he let go and flew away.

Kevin

My mum used to have a chihuaha that our family doctor gave her. Anyway the doc was down the beach one day letting their chihauhas have a run and a pelican took one.

On large birds I am sure there are ones around capable of carrying away lots of large things. Driving through a secluded forest once on an old forestries logging trail my friend and I had 2 eagles swoop down in front of the car and just fly along the road in front of us. The road was easily 30 feet wide and they had 90% of it covered flying side by side.

I wish there were more birds of prey in Hollywood. Maybe they would swoop down on celebrities that are carrying around tiny dogs now because it is "cool".

That was kind of mean, wasn't it? Man, I tried to resist it, but I just couldn't.

quote Originally posted by frontal lobe: I wish there were more birds of prey in Hollywood. Maybe they would swoop down on celebrities that are carrying around tiny dogs now because it is "cool". That was kind of mean, wasn't it? Man, I tried to resist it, but I just couldn't.

No what would be mean is saying that I wished they would swoop down on some of the celebrities carrying the dogs.

**EDIT**
Meh, never mind. After thinking about it, I think it would be meaner to take the dogs... I kinda like some of them

**EDIT EDIT**
I read that again and realized we just said the exact same thing... man, and I haven't even started drinking yet!

[This message has been edited by wikid_one (edited 12-22-2006).]

quote Originally posted by frontal lobe: I wish there were more birds of prey in Hollywood. Maybe they would swoop down on celebrities that are carrying around tiny dogs now because it is "cool". That was kind of mean, wasn't it? Man, I tried to resist it, but I just couldn't.

We're talking Paris Hilton, right? Some raptor attacking her dog would be mean--to the dog. Not the dog's fault it's inbred and stupid and owned by someone who's inbred and stupid.

Photo's a fake.

quote Originally posted by DeV8er: Photo's a fake.

Photo might be fake but the concept sure ain't.

quote Originally posted by DeV8er: Photo's a fake.

At that quality there's no way to tell, but I bet it's real. If you look closely, its claws are open so it's not a photo of the bird actually carrying anything... If someone was going to make a hoax, they'd probably have it actually holding an animal. Could be just swooping to chase it off, or maybe got up enough speed to snag it off the ground just a bit when it pulled up, could just be beating the snot out of it on the ground because it didn't like the way the fox was looking at his new rims. Looks to me, from the angles and the snow cloud, like the bird smacked him a good one and is on the up-swoop.

Could it carry off a fox? I don't think that particular bird has the wingspan and strength for that particular canine, but check out Argentavis magnificens and its Wikipedia article There are occasionally unconfirmed sightings of birds almost that big, so it's feasible that something similar is stil holding on...

[This message has been edited by FieroGT42 (edited 12-22-2006).]

quote Originally posted by FieroGT42: Could be just swooping to chase it off, or maybe got up enough speed to snag it off the ground just a bit when it pulled up, could just be beating the snot out of it on the ground because it didn't like the way the fox was looking at his new rims. Looks to me, from the angles and the snow cloud, like the bird smacked him a good one and is on the up-swoop.

I agree that it was doing it to scare away the fox. See what's in front of them? It looks like a carcass of possibly a deer. Could be the bird was just defending a food source. I've seen crows go after racoons and opossums over dead rabbits. They don't pick them up they just smack then to scare them away.

(either that or the eagle is a registered proctologist. )

[This message has been edited by Oreif (edited 12-23-2006).]

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: I remember a case in Indiana or Illinois a number of years back, about this woman hearing her 5 year old yelling and ran out in the back yard to see him being carried away by a huge bird that looked like a buzzard. She grabbed him by the legs and it released him and flew off. Later the same day some hunters not far away filmed a big bird flying by a lake they estimated to be 15-20 feet across.

Good thing her story was partialy corroborated, now-a-days the kid would be in protective services.
Sad realy, Zero tolerence.
When I'm late for something, people don't beleive me when I explain that 'I was abducted by Aliens again.'

------------------
Ol' Paint, 88 Base coupe auto.
Turning white on top, like owner.
Leaks a little, like owner.
Doesn't smoke, unlike owner

quote Originally posted by FieroGT42: At that quality there's no way to tell, but I bet it's real. If you look closely, its claws are open so it's not a photo of the bird actually carrying anything... If someone was going to make a hoax, they'd probably have it actually holding an animal. Could be just swooping to chase it off, or maybe got up enough speed to snag it off the ground just a bit when it pulled up, could just be beating the snot out of it on the ground because it didn't like the way the fox was looking at his new rims. Looks to me, from the angles and the snow cloud, like the bird smacked him a good one and is on the up-swoop. Could it carry off a fox? I don't think that particular bird has the wingspan and strength for that particular canine, but check out Argentavis magnificens and its Wikipedia article There are occasionally unconfirmed sightings of birds almost that big, so it's feasible that something similar is stil holding on...

I cannot comprehend a bird with an eight meter wingspan...whoa...that's around twenty-five feet, if I remember correctly.

The photo is not a picture of the bird taking off with a fox. Holding a fox by one claw, yet be strong enough for that one claw to make it perpendicular to the bird overcoming the force of weight and gravity of the fox.

I'm not for sure if the photo is fake. The bird and the fox along with another small bird is around a dead carcass of some kind. You're talking about the dead of winter when food is scarce.

The eagle could have been intemidating the fox or attempt to pick it up but dropped it because of the wieght or the fox fighting it.

Looks to me that they are fighting over food, not the fox being a food for the eagle.

I was squirell hunting one time back when I was a kid and was stocking up on one barking in the tree. As I got closer to it, all of a sudden a big hawk swoops down and grabs the squirell. The hawk made it about 10 yards before dropping it, as soon as the squirell hit the ground it ran up a tree and stopped. After it stopped, I then of course shot him and he didnt make it thru that. I picked him up and he had big gouges in his back from the talons. Poor squirell was probally thinking, man that was a close one, wait till I tell the boys waht happen, then bang--

quote Originally posted by Wolfhound: old photo?

Wolfhound, that is really cool. Where did you find that image? Along those lines check this out. Link

I am one of the wackos who challenge Carbon 14 dating and believe that dinosaurs walked with man at some point. Remember that there was a time when our best scientific minds thought the world was flat. We find new species of animals every year.


There are a lot of artifacts that seem to suggest that there is a possibility that we could have lived at the same time. Many ancient cultures have dinosaur artifacts depicting them accurately. Human bones and tools coexist in the same fossil layers as dinosaur bones in Texas and the Dakotas. I know that it sounds crazy but do some research.

This is a burial stone from Peru. There are more like it.

[This message has been edited by RACE (edited 12-24-2006).]

quote Originally posted by RACE: I am one of the wackos who challenge Carbon 14 dating and believe that dinosaurs walked with man at some point.

At least you're honest with yourself...



j/k

I tried to edit and ended up quoting. Sorry about that.

[This message has been edited by RACE (edited 12-24-2006).]

The skeptical Inquirer ran a story on the pteradactyl and the chubby actors dressed in union soldier uniforms. Some people put a lot of effort into the scam, but not enough to make it plausible. Oh darn, it would be fun to believe.

I had a friend batted by a large owl, knocked him azz over teakettle, like getting hit with a ten pound cannonball. Ouch

It could be very ez for a 15 foot bird to exist. Southern Ohio and West Virgina have sand cranes that are over 6 feet that are routinely spotted.