Nine scary bird attacks that really happened

Chicago, 2010: Billboard contractor slashed by red-tailed hawk (Reported by the   Chicago Sun-Times) by Mary Katharine Ham: Yeah, I’m goofing around, but it’s the week after Christmas! And, the dismal suspense of the fiscal cliff isn’t enough to keep me going. Last week’s Eagle-Steals-Baby viral video, which turned out to be a hoax, was an expression of a pretty common tall tale or legend. The Globe and Mail, in the country that brought us the hoax video, explains: Stories about eagles carrying off people, especially small children, go back centuries and are found all over the world. In fact, the student’s digital prank is not the first film hoax of an eagle carrying off a baby; no less than Thomas Edison made an early film that depicted an eagle carrying off a baby, as did other early filmmakers. There are also drawings and paintings of eagles attacking children and scores of stories from all over the world with the same motif: It seems to be a falsehood we are compelled to return to. Last week was an occasion for local wildlife experts to intone on the evening news about just how little danger your infants are in of imminent carrying off by birds of prey. I say pish-posh to all that quelling of fears. Let the panic begin!...Bird attacks here...