Several things made me suspicious when I first started examining the Youtube video “Golden Eagle Snatches Kid:”
- The mother appeared only mildly interested in saving her baby
- The eagle appeared to have lifted the toddler off the ground before Mommy noticed
- The shadows in various parts of the park meadow did not line up right with each other
Child Safety in a Park
This video appears to prove how dangerous some city parks can be for toddlers. It might actually have proved something, except that the video was a hoax. Animation students in Canada created both an artificial eagle and an artificial toddler, inserting both models onto footage of a park in Montreal. Small children, even babies, are quite safe from eagles in city parks.
Suspicious Shadows
For me, the shadows nailed shut the coffin on credibility for this apparent family video. Some of them line up almost opposite to what they should, in particular when comparing the left side of the meadow with the right side. The clincher is a frame of “video” in the middle of that meadow, where both extremes in shadow direction can be seen.
On right of meadow, shadows fall to the left
On the left of the meadow, shadows fall to the right
In the middle, there are no in-between shadows: they fall in both extreme directions
Live Pterosaur Investigations
How might this Youtube video affect the work of those who investigate reports of living pterosaurs? It’s both positive and negative. It proves our interviews with eyewitnesses have been valuable, even though we do not yet have convincing photos or video footage of living pterosaurs. On the other hand, when we do obtain such visual evidence, many skeptics might still mock because of how many were fooled by the eagle-baby hoax in Montreal, Canada.
“Golden Eagle Snatches Kid” Video
News professionals were suspicious of the apparent attack when they learned that nobody had reported any problem, to the Montreal police or newspapers, regarding any bird in any park.
Their parents can feel comfortable, knowing their children are kept from any unwanted internet attention. We hope other child care facilities will follow us. [Avoid putting children’s faces online without hiding identify.]
Eagle did not Snatch Toddler in Park
This Youtube video is a humorous look at why the original video (that went viral) appeared to be a hoax.