Three-year-old girl taken by an eagle up to its eyrie in the mountains

...but was fortunately rescued.

Ok, this is not news. It happened in 1932 in Norway.
The story however is quite incredible and scientists don´t agree if this could have happened or not.

In 1932 an eagle snatched a three year old girl named Svanhild Hartvigsen that dwelt at courtyard on the farm Soeraa and flew her to Mount Hagafjellet, a distance of several hundred meters. A search party discovered her some hours later on a narrow shelf in the face of the steep mountain. Her cloths bore the distinct marks of the eagle claws, but the child was not injured. The whole affair is accounted "a miracle of Leka".

I came across a different version of the story while searching for an english article. That version I saw on several sites, they misspelled her surname and was wrong about her age (3 years old, not 5...).

"On June 5,1932, Svanhild Hansen, a 42-pound five-year-old girl, was taken from her parents' Leka, Norway, farm by a huge eagle; the bird transported her more than a mile until it dropped her on a high ledge and continued to circle overhead. When rescuers reached the ledge, the child was asleep and, aside from a few small scratches, unharmed. Zoologist Hartvig Huitfeldt-Kaas, who spent a month investigating the story, pronounced it "completely reliable." The eagle, if that is what it was, was seen on several subsequent occasions."

The most credible version of this story I think is this one (see section 5) :
Cultural information about Leka

Here is the bird:
"Haliaeetus albicilla" / "White-tailed Eagle" / "Havřrn"


Could this bird have been strong enough to carry a 42-pound child to its eyrie in the mountains?
I personally can´t see any reason to doubt this story.
I believe it happened...

i dont believe that one bit.

Wow, that just might be the coolest eagle-related story I have ever heard.

Did she remember to thank the bird for the Skittles?

skittles.com...Just play the video!

man, if this is true, then it's soo bizarre! LOL!

Hahaha!!
That commercial's funny.

Eagle's are quite strong ya know, but I doubt it.

Yes, this happens quite often, but goes unreported due to the remoteness of the areas in which it occurs.

ive heard of large birds of prey flying away with sheep in their talons, why not a little girl? on animal planets most extreme animals show, they said that a eagle or hawk could lift more weight than a heavy cargo lifting airplane in a scaled comparison.

What you have heard in regard to Eagles taking livestock is not true. Eagles will, however, feed on carrion which is probably where that myth came from.

Furthermore, if a child was taken by a raptor as prey, the raptor would kill it first. You can't fly with a thrashing child.

Uh, Golden Eagles kill and eat deer. But don't think they carry them off, but dive bomb them and kill them on the ground and eat them there.

What`s the average weight for a three-year-old?
Is it more than an eagle can carry?


EDIT:
Why am I asking?
Forgot she was 42 pounds...
Over and out



[edit on 2004/10/28 by Hellmutt]

Ive seen eagles pic up Rainbow Trout and Salmon, the biggest being maybe 20 pounds (Prolly a Pink Salmon). Rainbow Trout are easy for those bird, Falcons & Osprey pray on Rainbow too. But the Salmon are usually only snatched by Eagles or bigger Ospreys or Falcons (or smaller Salmon). I wont rule out a 43 pound payload being picked up but a Eagle, But I would say that the eagle would have to be Mature and above average size and strenght. Could be done

Great story

Edit: You guys ever heard a Osprey dive for a fish into water? Its insane!!! They make a high pitched scream (the air on their body) as they are diving from about 50-100ft. up... Its just sooooo cooool, Imagin a bird circling above your boat, then it diving from 50ft. up into the water near your boat and the screaming noise fallowing it till it hits the water with a huge splash, only to come out of the water with a 10lbs. Rainbow. Now that is a true hunter, it really makes you feel lazy fishing with a pole.


[edit on 10/28/04 by HumptyDumpty]

First off were does it say the girl was 48 pounds? a three year old girl could be anyware from 25 to 48 depending on how fast she grows .
As for the child being alive when they found her that would be the strange part in my book as these birds have no murcie.
but more then likly when the bird grabed her she went into shock and this could have fooled the bird into thinkiing she was dead.
and I have read plently of books claming the golden egal can carry off a lamb so a small girl would be no problem .

Weird, we have the same icons...

Anyway, yeah I think some birds would be quite strong enough...Maybe the girl was so scared she didn't move. I know I wouldn't.

[edit on 28-10-2004 by Ajax]

I don't see why an eagle couldn't do something like this. It's possible that the bird was very confused or something, that or had eyesight problems (I know unusual for an eagle). An eagle could probably do this, it's just unusual.

ok then read this and it might make you think again,possibly wasnt an eagle as we know it

Aha, the famous Thunderbird...
This wasn´t a thunderbird. They found its eyrie and it was without a doubt the bird in the picture ("Haliaeetus albicilla" / "White-tailed Eagle"). I´ve been in this area myself, BTW. And I´ve had a White-tailed Eagle flying right over my head when I was standing on top of a mountain. I got a picture of that one lying around somewhere. A very common bird in this area. They can get quite big too. There have been no reports of any Thunderbirds in Norway. I think this mythological bird lives in North-America.

That eagle has to be strong...like as strong as an ant.

I've done alot of reserch on Thunderbirds and think that they could be some smaller version of Argravits Magnificens. Regarding this story, it was probably just a large eagle.