In July, 1977, the Boston Evening Globe ran a story of a 10-year-old girl in Lawndale, Illinois, who was attacked by a bird with an 8-foot wingspan that tried to carry her off. Her mother claimed that her daughter was carried about 20 feet before she was able to force the bird to release her.

In September, 1977, a bald eagle picked up a small beagle and was able to carry it a distance of about 600 yards before it had to drop the dog.

And in a most gruesome account, in 1838 a huge eagle snatched up a 5-year-old girl from a mountain slope in the Swiss Alps and took her to its nest where it dined on the poor child. When the nest was found some time later, it was said to be littered with the bones of sheep and goats.