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Speaker 1: Christ Yeah, welcome friends to the Christian o'connells Show podcast.

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Speaker 2: I was walking with my dogs and my wife over

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Speaker 2: the weekend where we're down in red Hill, and some

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Speaker 2: old timers said to me, you need to be careful

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Speaker 2: with that little dog. Around here we have wedge tailed

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Speaker 2: eagles and I don't care if an eagle wants to

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Speaker 2: come down sweep away with this lit of the yappy dog.

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Speaker 2: I don't particularly care of him, but my wife.

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Speaker 3: Loves this dog.

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Speaker 2: If it was a choice between the eagle flying off

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Speaker 2: with me and that little dog, she's handing me over going.

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Speaker 2: He's had a good life. He's had a good life.

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Speaker 2: Save my dog. Please, he's a little toy poodle. Even

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Speaker 2: the name toy it doesn't even sound like a dog's name.

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Speaker 2: So anyway, I want to know about what you knew

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Speaker 2: about these wedge tailed eagles. Do they really fly away

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Speaker 2: with small dogs? And there was even rumors of small

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Speaker 2: kangaroos joeyes, and that they.

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Speaker 3: Come down and sweep on.

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Speaker 2: Did you know that the Australian wedgetailed eagle is the

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Speaker 2: fifth biggest eagle in the world two point eight meters

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Speaker 2: the wings.

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Speaker 3: That is massive.

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Speaker 2: The bald eagle is at number four, white tailed eagle

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Speaker 2: in Russia, number three, at number two the harpy eagle,

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Speaker 2: and at number one.

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Speaker 3: Of course it's Russian. It's the stellar's see eagle.

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Speaker 2: However, the wedge tailed eagle here in Australia is the

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Speaker 2: only eagle in the world knowing to attack bloody ol

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Speaker 2: hang gliders, paragliders and drones. It can fly up to

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Speaker 2: is that right? Eighteen hundred meters that's over a mild

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Speaker 2: as high as over a mile.

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Speaker 1: Hi.

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Speaker 4: But they did get up.

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Speaker 1: Heart.

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Speaker 3: Their love is eternal. Do you know this?

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Speaker 2: Once they find a mate, the wedge tailed eagle, they

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Speaker 2: stay together. Wedge tailed eagles in the news last year

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Speaker 2: here in Victoria, a wedgetail eagle dropped her puppy into

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Speaker 2: a woman's backyard. She decided to adopt him, only to

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Speaker 2: realize as he got old, it wasn't actually a dog

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Speaker 2: but a dingo.

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Speaker 3: Oh sorry, mate, you gotta go. You should have said

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Speaker 3: you knew down with you should have said something. Now.

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Speaker 2: Wonder that those wedgetailed eagles they're fussy eaters.

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Speaker 3: The bloody Oh it's chew it's a dingo. Put it

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Speaker 3: down anywhere.

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Speaker 2: Twenty twenty one in Gimping, Queensland had become overrun with

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Speaker 2: wedgetailed eagles. Local Chris, you could tell this has been

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Speaker 2: cut and pace for my new story. Local Chris hawd

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Speaker 2: is pet duck Darryl Queensland pet duck Darryl taken from

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Speaker 2: his pond, as well as two chucks and three guinea

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Speaker 2: found in twenty sixteen.

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Speaker 3: Imagine this.

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Speaker 2: A crowd of stunned onlookers watched an enormous wedgetail eagle

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Speaker 2: attempt to fly.

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Speaker 3: Away with a young boy.

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Speaker 2: Oh no, I had a popular wildlife show in Central Australia.

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Speaker 2: The bird finally released the boy and he escaped unscathed.

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Speaker 3: Wow.

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Speaker 4: So is that a wild eagle or is he part

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Speaker 4: of the wildlife show? Because then shame on the gardlers.

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Speaker 2: No no, no, not shame. I'm tipping. If that happens,

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Speaker 2: it can be your kids. They do this every day

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Speaker 2: at one twenty by the bar.

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Speaker 3: Pay a bit more to feed the animals, play it

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Speaker 3: a bit more again.

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Speaker 2: It's like a monorail round around the park. Twenty eighteen,

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Speaker 2: a chihuahua got attacks by a wedgetailed eagle in Kinglake.

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Speaker 2: The owner heard the bushes rustling and found the eagle

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Speaker 2: had a puppy mash just scared away and save the dog.

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Speaker 3: All right. The thing I want to know is are

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Speaker 3: there a lot of these just tall stories? Has anyone

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Speaker 3: got any eyewitness accounts? Right?

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Speaker 2: I want to hear them this morning. Not a friend

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Speaker 2: of mine says, this happened to you with your own eyes.

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Speaker 2: You saw this nine four one four one oh four

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Speaker 2: three eyewitness reports of the danger the peril of the

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Speaker 2: wedge tailed eagle.

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Speaker 3: The Christian O'Connell show podcast.

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Speaker 2: Wedgetailed Eagles was warned how dangerous they can be.

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Speaker 3: At the weekend.

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Speaker 2: They could fly off with the small, annoying, yappy dog

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Speaker 2: that my wife has. I mean, I suppose I have

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Speaker 2: him as well as I could step dog to me.

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Speaker 2: I don't accept him. I have a proper dog, which

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Speaker 2: is a German shep. But they ain't taken that thing away.

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Speaker 2: Trust me, they won't pick that fight. It was like, well,

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Speaker 2: we're reverse guys, reverse Can we can we reverse this? Eagles?

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Speaker 2: I'm not sure do one eighty? Whatever we do, go

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Speaker 2: back up, come back down for the little yappy dog. Jack,

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Speaker 2: what have you found about the wedge tailed eagles?

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Speaker 4: The West Coast eagles have a real life wedge tail

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Speaker 4: eagle as a mascot that flies around Optus oval before

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Speaker 4: a game does.

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Speaker 3: It, and I thought, what am I doing?

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Speaker 4: Stunts or just he just goes for a fly to

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Speaker 4: entertain the crown. A few years ago.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I've been out that way.

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Speaker 2: They're easily entertained, aren't they with a little bird show

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Speaker 2: before a game.

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Speaker 4: In twenty twenty one, he was at doing it at

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Speaker 4: a match and they couldn't get him back, so he

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Speaker 4: just went up and purchased in the stands and he

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Speaker 4: wouldn't come down.

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Speaker 2: A Christian, we recently had an eagle incident that comes

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Speaker 2: from Marlene my husband. Christian has always been a sucker

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Speaker 2: for anything free. What if our neighbors not to a

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Speaker 2: door one day't ask him if you want a free rooster?

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Speaker 2: And of course my husband said, I would say, no, nest,

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Speaker 2: you've got got like the equipment for them. Well, you know,

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Speaker 2: one lone rooster in your back, then you're like five

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Speaker 2: a m.

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Speaker 4: But that word free is hard to say no to.

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Speaker 3: I don't know if it's a rooster under a guy's arm. Anyway,

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Speaker 3: one day there was the.

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Speaker 2: Terrible clocking noises and we also had hens as well.

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Speaker 2: Everyone was starting panicking and running for cover. There was

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Speaker 2: a swoop of wings and nothing but feathers left us.

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Speaker 2: A local eagle carried the rooster off.

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Speaker 3: Sorry to hear that many.

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Speaker 4: We don't know if you died. I think it could

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Speaker 4: have just been placed down at another person's house and

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Speaker 4: happy ending.

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Speaker 2: I don't think they're in the sort of removal in

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Speaker 2: the street. Okay, they don't just put them in their

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Speaker 2: nest to make them work for them. It's like eagle

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Speaker 2: slaves or something. Good morning, Christian. We live on ten

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Speaker 2: acres and the Yarrow Valley. We have a creek where

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Speaker 2: two wedge tailed eagles hang out in the trees and

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Speaker 2: are often seeing flying over us, intimidating us every day.

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Speaker 4: I mean, being swooped by magpie is one thing.

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Speaker 2: To Apparently, they hunt in pairs really well. They made

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Speaker 2: for life and then they mister and missus up there.

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Speaker 2: My husband and I were sitting outside the shed one night,

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Speaker 2: very vulnerable, very vulnerable. They take the shed as well,

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Speaker 2: you know, bit by bit they take the roof.

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Speaker 3: First of all.

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Speaker 2: Another day they come before the side. Anyway, we were

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Speaker 2: sitting out the side the shed one night there was

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Speaker 2: a large amount of white cockatoos flying around.

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Speaker 3: Oh my god.

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Speaker 2: When I was coming next, suddenly there was screeching as

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Speaker 2: they saw down.

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Speaker 3: Christianing on, let me get the sound effects. No, sounds

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Speaker 3: like a duck. There you go. There it is screeching

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Speaker 3: loudly Christian.

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Speaker 2: Then we see wedge tailed eagles, not one, but two

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Speaker 2: flying through the air.

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Speaker 3: They're grabbing them.

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Speaker 2: They tried to fly away with a fox as well.

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Speaker 3: The Christian.

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Speaker 2: I heard you talking about this the other day, and

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Speaker 2: you said that maybe can you buy weighted vests for

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Speaker 2: small talks.

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Speaker 4: So when the eagle comes down and goes, oh, this

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Speaker 4: is heavy.

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Speaker 3: The bigger lad that he looks, isn't he this one?

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Speaker 2: He must be heavy boned, This little toy poodle and

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Speaker 2: she sent me some phone to us here of this

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Speaker 2: jacket you can wear from sexy Land or something sexy

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Speaker 2: much so there's some sort of s and M play.

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Speaker 3: He's got like stups coming at the top of.

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Speaker 4: The idol might wear on his shoulders.

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Speaker 2: We've got Tim on the line, who's got an eye

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Speaker 2: witness report of wedge tailed eagle attacking him.

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Speaker 3: Good morning, Tim, welcome to show.

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Speaker 1: Oh, thank you very much guy, it's great to be here, all.

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Speaker 2: Right, So Tim, what can you tell us about a

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Speaker 2: wedge tailed eagle? First hand account?

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Speaker 1: Okay, so if you're a paragliding pilot, you will come

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Speaker 1: into contact with these. And I've had two contacts with eagles.

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Speaker 1: One's a sea eagle and I've got some nice footage

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Speaker 1: of one following me with The day that the wed

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Speaker 1: teel hit me, I didn't hear a thing. I just

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Speaker 1: heard a bit of a bang. I could feel a

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Speaker 1: ripple through the lines, and I just looked up and

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Speaker 1: looked across and thought what is going on? And I

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Speaker 1: could see a big, dark, ominous shadow just on the

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Speaker 1: back of my wing, and I can hear the pinging

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Speaker 1: where it's got its talons into my wing. It's actually

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Speaker 1: ripped a couple of pieces.

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Speaker 3: Out of it.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Once I figured out what it was, I dumped out

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Speaker 1: of the air and landed landed at Lake George. So

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Speaker 1: that's out in your camera way.

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Speaker 3: How do you dom palell? Yeah? What do you mean?

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Speaker 1: I will see when you When you fly in a paraglider,

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Speaker 1: you fly on a lift band where the wind is

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Speaker 1: coming up a ridge, so you could fly along there.

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Speaker 1: So as soon as you hit me, I come off

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Speaker 1: the lift band and I plummet gl glit off and

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Speaker 1: then landed a distance away from the from the cliff

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Speaker 1: face that you know you're flying the long and I

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Speaker 1: was about, you know, two hundred meters away from where

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Speaker 1: I got hit and just landed safely at Lake George.

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Speaker 3: Incredible stuff. How long are you up there in a paraglide,

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Speaker 3: by the way there for an hour or so.

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Speaker 1: It bends. The longest I've been up was three hours

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Speaker 1: and only had to come out of the water, I

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Speaker 1: mean out of the sky to go to the toilet.

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Speaker 3: But yeah, I mean I've got to see. It was me.

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Speaker 3: I just get out that little seed bag.

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Speaker 1: You just.

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Speaker 3: Walk around that it's been done.

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Speaker 1: It's been done. Take condoms and use those. And then

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Speaker 1: just about the.

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Speaker 3: High cuve son ambitious. You've been attacked by eagles.

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Speaker 1: Hurry up, well, least get something throwed an eagles.

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Speaker 3: Christian know Connell's show podcasts