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Deathmatch: Hawks vs. Robot Dragonflies
We’ve all heard about Man vs. Machine, but Bird vs. Robotic Dragonfly?
In another one for the Unintended Consequences file, some hungry feathered friends have reportedly been mistaking WowWee’s remote controlled FlyTech Dragonfly for lunch.
WowWee says its customer service department has received 45 calls since Christmas of “hawks and other birds of prey swooping down and snatching consumers’ FlyTech Dragonfly out of the air.”
WowWee started investigating after seeing an article in Long Island’s Manhasset Press written by fifth-grader Danny McGorry.
Danny reports:
I was only five feet away from it when a hawk swooped down and took the Dragonfly right out of the air! This happened too quickly for me to react. My mouth dropped open; I stood there saying to myself over and over, “That did not just happen!” I could see the light in the Dragonfly’s eyes fading away. I ran inside yelling “It took it! It took it!” I calmed down and informed mom and dad … My dad spotted (the hawk) in the neighbor’s tree … I saw the hawk tear off my toy’s plastic wings and its Styrofoam body was ripped up and fell to the ground. … The next week after the “attack” I got a new Dragonfly. It’s better than ever. I saw the hawk again, watching from high in a tree, but the hawk must have disliked its Dragonfly meal.
WowWee is now looking for video of the “phenomenon,” so bird and flying toy watchers should keep those cameras handy.
Amy Weltman, WowWee’s vice president for marketing, said she doubted hawk attacks were covered under the Dragonfly’s warranty, but that anyone who catches the carnage on video will get a free replacement.
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