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katie ta achoo said:
Once, I had a bird fly AT MY HEAD.
I know I have a big head, but.. AHH! I thought I was going to die.
You ought to try walking through the square in the centre of town here – the pigeons are bloody mental and fly right at you. I've often found myself ducking to avoid a collision.
 
I once had a crow which attacked me while I was walking under some trees. Initially, I thought the crow was just plain blind and keeps on swooping near me. After the third swoop, I realised it was going for me.... I quickly jogged out of that area.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
You ought to try walking through the square in the centre of town here – the pigeons are bloody mental and fly right at you. I've often found myself ducking to avoid a collision.

That and the seagulls! They're evil.

I once visited my aunt in Shetland, and we had to walk across a field that had some sort of nesting birds (I forget what) nearby. We had to take our jumpers off, tie stones in them and whirl them round our heads to stop them dive-bombing us. It was a bit scary, to be honest. :eek:
 
Jaffa Cake said:
You've got to watch your chips when the gulls are about, that's for sure...

I'm very watchful of my chips in any situation. :D
 
I once had a seagull take a Magnum out of my hand...he then used it to hold-up a bank! No seriously, it was a Walls Magnum ice-cream which it snatched from me and swallowed whole, stick and all, right in front of me. I hope it got a bloody headache. I hate seagulls.

On the subject of the article. This scientist seems to be saying that this new theory proves large birds were hunting prehistoric people, or at least their children. Based on the evidence of scars on the bones of the eye sockets similar to a modern eagle pecking at the eye sockets of monkeys. Could the prehistoric bird simply have come across the body and been a scavenger in the style of a vulture?
 
mpw said:
Based on the evidence of scars on the bones of the eye sockets similar to a modern eagle pecking at the eye sockets of monkeys. Could the prehistoric bird simply have come across the body and been a scavenger in the style of a vulture?
Hmm... does the skull have other damage to suggest a bird attack? The report mentions that the birds pierce the back of the skull to kill the victim, although it doesn't mention that this extra evidence is present on the fossil skull...
 
Its tough to say what happened with this skeleton - its all guess work. Modern day forensics have a hard enough time determining exact causes of death from bodies a couple years old - this one is 2 million or more :D

So it could have been a kill or it could have been scavenging.

D
 
I was once canoeing in a marsh doing a water quality assesment and fish inventory and while going through an area rich with ducks, a bald eagle swooped out from nowhere and almost ripped me to shreds. it was frightening, I didn't realize how large these birds are, and it's sharp beak and talons were headed straight for us. it turns out the ducks knew the eagle was there and that's why they hadn't taken off from the water (the eagle would have snatched them from the air no problem), so they were all around us and the eagle was making a pass to try and get them to take off but we were in the way :eek: . it was an amazing sight, but I don't want that to happen again.
I can imagine how these ancient humans felt with birds swooping to kill them, it's not a pleasant thought at all
 
GorillaPaws said:
The story reminded me of this:
5123.jpg


Birds really are dangerous.

Even now, I cant believe its not butter.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
You've got to watch your chips when the gulls are about, that's for sure...
Never mind your chips - you've got to be REALLY careful if you're eating an ice cream when there are gulls about. An un-noticed mid-air evacuation on your Mr Whippy is no joke, I can tell you.
 
stevep said:
...you've got to be REALLY careful if you're eating an ice cream when there are gulls about. An un-noticed mid-air evacuation on your Mr Whippy is no joke, I can tell you.
See my previous post about the Magnum. What made that incident worse was that the gull snatched the untouched Magnum from my hand before I'd even taken a bite and landed about 6ft from me on a crowded beach. Close enough he knew I could see the whole thing, stick and all, go down his neck but far enough that he knew he'd escape if I went for him. Being at the beach for the day I was packing a set of water-filled bright plastic bowls so I instinctively launch a salvo off at him missed and watched my missile shoot down the crowed beach. Luckily not hitting anybody.
 
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