# quad vs. raptor **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 20, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400 "2016-09-20T00:03:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/1 "2016-09-20T00:03:33Z")
Apparently, the Dutch police have become so [annoyed with UAVs that they are using trained eagles](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/these-eagles-snatch-hostile-drones-from-the-sky/) to snatch them out of the sky. Which, honestly, I have a hard time having a problem with. Could they do this in America, where old baldy is the national symbol, or would they have to use some other kind of raptor. I mean, I think it is slightly illegal to shoot eagles, so the UAV operators would not be able to defend their devices. And should they? Are these things getting to be too pervasive? What if it was an amazon delivery? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/2 "2016-09-20T00:43:33Z")
Why would American cops not use guns? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/3 "2016-09-20T01:02:53Z")
Because every once in a while, a bullet comes down three miles away and kills someone. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/4 "2016-09-20T01:23:47Z")
Sounds like a great idea… if only it weren’t Bald Eagles. Now, if seagulls could be trained for instance… or pigeons… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/5 "2016-09-20T03:06:32Z")
Nothing meaningful to add, but… [car vs. raptor](http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m305/llaaksonen/WindshieldvsHawk.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/6 "2016-09-20T03:55:03Z")
That must have been one angry bird. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/7 "2016-09-20T04:07:18Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Because every once in a while, a bullet comes down three miles away and kills someone. It’s not like that’s keeping them from using their guns now… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/8 "2016-09-20T04:46:11Z")
[Eagle takes down drone.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr-xBtVU4lg) ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/9 "2016-09-20T04:57:06Z")
Slightly illegal? I like the idea of pigeons or seagulls, but face it, this is America. Why would we use cheap and plentiful birds? Surely there is a $20,000 anti-drone drone that some entrepreneur can sell to every law enforcement agency in the country. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/10 "2016-09-20T05:14:14Z")
I would not underestimate the cost of trained birds, the cost of employing a handler, and the cost of tasty rodents. The $20,000 anti-UAV-drone might actually be a bargain. If, that is, if it is effective. The birds, I suspect those things would have a very high kill rate. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/11 "2016-09-20T05:48:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [Eagle takes down drone.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr-xBtVU4lg) Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/12 "2016-09-20T13:46:19Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > Slightly illegal? Go cuff a bird. I’ll wait. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/13 "2016-09-20T14:27:15Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Could they do this in America, where old baldy is the national symbol, or would they have to use some other kind of raptor. I suppose we could use [golden eagles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_eagles_in_human_culture) which are domestically available and trainable to attack large(ish) prey. I suspect that hawks and falcons would be too small and risk injury from the device. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/14 "2016-09-20T14:34:21Z")
Technically, taking down someone else’s drone is illegal. However, I can’t see too many juries convicting when the drone is over the taker-downer’s property, at least if it is low enough to be taken down. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/15 "2016-09-20T14:49:25Z")
There was a TV show on (last summer, I think) called Showdown of the Unbeatables, which featured various products vs. people, animals, and various other products. I thought they had a hawk vs. a drone, but I was incorrect. It was a guy with a rifle vs. a drone (drone won in that it escaped being shot down) and a hawk vs. a remote control car. (Car won, but the hawk was scared of it at first. It was doing better at the end.) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/16 "2016-09-20T15:34:03Z")
As I recall, the privacy/property rule is something like 100 or 200 feet, below which one can destroy the trespasser. Not sure if the resident is required to return the pieces, and it is not clear what kind of rules apply in public spaces. I would think that there is some kind of freedom-from-assault type expectation that would permit a person to deal with being buzzed in, say, a park that is not designated for RC flight use. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/17 "2016-09-20T17:34:23Z")
I’d be worried about the birds having their talons ripped up by propeller blades. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/18 "2016-09-20T18:53:56Z")
How do you train the eagles to only attack hostile UAVs? Seems like a lot of regular drones would get taken out this way. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/19 "2016-09-20T18:58:25Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > How do you train the eagles to only attack hostile UAVs? Seems like a lot of regular drones would get taken out this way. Reminds me of a line from one of the _Flint_ movies with James Coburn. Something like. “How fiendish, an Anti-American eagle!” ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400/20 "2016-09-20T18:59:44Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’d be worried about the birds having their talons ripped up by propeller blades. Most drones are designed so that their blades wouldn’t even cut a human’s fingers let alone a birds talons. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quad-vs-raptor/766400.md?page=2)