In the comments of the last piece, we were accused of "tweeting damaging mythology re: raptors":
While Barry has further thoughts:
The Black Swamp Bird Observatory agrees with the conclusion that it is faked, given that the bird is not a native to the Montreal area, but has a different take on how the fakery was achieved:
Neil Aldridge, a wildlife photographer tells Bird Watching magazine:
— Neil Aldridge (@AldridgePhoto) December 19, 2012
So why did this happen? Who would spread such damaging mythology re: raptors? One Fark user claims that there's a 3D animation school in Montreal which regularly produces similar hoaxes. Here's one from last year, for instance:
The animation's not as good, and the video doesn't have any of the canny tricks that the eagle one did to try and look real. But it's along similar lines, and was also taken in Montreal - though a different park. Case closed?
Yes, case is indeed closed. The animation school, Centre NAD, has confirmed it was the source of the video:
The “Golden Eagle Snatches Kid” video, uploaded to YouTube on the evening of December 18, was made by Normand Archambault, Loïc Mireault and Félix Marquis-Poulin, students at Centre NAD, in the production simulation workshop class of the Bachelors degree in 3D Animation and Digital Design.