It's one thing to know that some animals are large. It's another thing entirely to get a real sense for the sheer size of some of them compared with us puny, fang- and talon-less humans. It really puts our place in nature in perspective, doesn't it?
Well, the latest absolute unit of a creature weirding folks out is the harpy eagle, and it's hard to blame them for their reactions.
And, as the largest eagles in the world, that's only right and proper.
It would be easy to see how those mythological creatures were inspired by the real harpy eagles if harpy eagles lived anywhere near Greece. They don't.
They noticed some similarities between these birds and the "frightful, flying creatures with hooked beak and claws" of legend.
But if they were just cute and cuddly, they wouldn't have earned that title, either.
Harpy eagles are nowhere near the bottom of their food chain.
You don't want to find yourself staring down the business end of a harpy eagle!
Their talons might be meant for feasting upon things like sloths and monkeys in the jungles where they live, but they look like they wouldn't have too much trouble carrying off a Volkswagen if they really wanted to.
Somehow both majestic and derpy, they simultaneously look like they could give you some sage life advice, but also get wrapped up in a multi-level marketing scheme.
Does this thing not look desperate to offload a garage full of LuLaRoe leggings?
Somehow, this bird that would tower over toddlers tops out at about 22 pounds. You sure wouldn't think it to see it standing next to a full grown man, would you?
I mean, either way, it's getting into that rated-R movie if it wants to anyway. Are you going to say no to this thing? Me neither.
That expressive face, coupled with the sheer size of them, adds up to, yeah, a sort of human/bird hybrid.
And they're at least as large as R2D2, and Kenny Baker wore that costume for what, half a dozen movies? So why not?
Get this guy a news desk and a microphone, amirite?
They can stand in one spot, just waiting for some tasty prey to wander along, for up to 23 hours!
No, it'll speed down below the forest canopy at up to 50 mph and snatch up a monkey or a sloth — up to about 17 pounds of meat — and crush it with those fearsome talons. It might as well be a trip to Hades.
Habitat loss hits them especially hard because they don't migrate, preferring to hunt an established range of a few square miles.
And they don't reproduce in great quantities; one pair raises an eaglet every two years at most, so their numbers don't bounce back quickly.
It's...not a great situation, so let's all appreciate these noble creatures for what they are — definitely not people in costumes, but beautiful, mighty creatures just doing their best in a world stacked against them.
h/t: San Diego Zoo
