When that video of a Golden Eagle snatching a baby from the ground (yes, that video of a Golden Eagle snatching a baby from the ground) hit the web last night, everyone immediately accepted its veracity.

Even on typically far-from-credulous Internet forums there was nary a "fake" and/or "gay" to be found.

Several hours later, those forums finally found their bearings, rolled up their sleeves, and got down to the task of debunking the latest viral tomfoolery before it had a chance to truly take off.

So here's what they have so far:

* Right off the bat, this is the uploader's only video. That's usually a pretty big tell.

* Secondly, news of this harrowing incident is nowhere to be found in Canadian media. Seems like a story someone would cover.


* Perhaps most convincing, however, is this comment made by renowned bird expert Kenn Kaufman:


As for the source of this highly convincing fake, the Internet jury is still out on that. But one Farker pointed to the existence of 3D animation school in Montreal that holds an annual "hoax the Internet" exam.

Here's an example of their past work.

If you have additional proof or know the source of the hoax, please leave it below.

UPDATE: As first posited above, the "Golden Eagle Snatched Kid" video was in fact the work of students at the Montreal-based animation and design school Centre NAD:


Congrats kids — next year's class will be hard-pressed to beat your "hoax the Internet" success.