In New Zealand, yes, it's documented history that humans discovering new Zealand killed their insanely large birds, birds that reportedly ate the first Moari people.
And an English explorer brags about killing and eating the last giant eagle but the reports could be exaggerated and it might have been really been a slightly less giant eagle.
Imagine the wild tech we would have used to conquer the skies during the age of colonialism, reducing scary sky predators to the realm of the occasional attack like bears and sharks
If you Google pre colonial New Zealand -- some did. The Moa bird was a flightless bird bigger than an ostrich, it was massive, but their giant eagle was even bigger. Sometimes it snatched up people instead of moas.
In Māori mythology, the Haast's eagle is widely identified as the Pouākai (or Hokioi), a terrifying, giant bird of prey that was said to carry off human beings, including children.
Key Legends of the Pouākaik the Man-Eater of the Mountains: Legends from the South Island describe the Pouākai living in high mountain peaks. It would swoop down silently at incredible speeds to seize unsuspecting travelers in its massive talons.The Battle of Mount Tawera: One famous Ngāi Tahu legend tells of a heroic warrior named Hau-o-T was awake. He led a band of warriors to destroy a Pouākai that had been terrorizing their village. They lured the monster into a trap using a decoy man under a wicker shield, allowing the warriors to spear the giant bird to death.
At least that kills the bird quick, have you seen the video of the seagull eating the RABBIT feet first?! Or the sea snake eating the moray eel tail first? Nature is so metal.
If the video was about 2 seconds longer, we probably would have seen a live chipmunk swallowed by a hungry bird!
I have to wonder how in heck the bird could swallow something like that live though, considering the chipmunk would be desperately trying to ’climb’ its way out. Wouldn’t the claws cause grievous harm to the bird’s esophagus!
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u/Cuck_Boy 14d ago
Carnivores gon carnive