In collaboration with raptor training company Guard From Above, Dutch police taught an eagle to recognize a DJI drone. Once in sight, the bird flies toward its mechanical prey, snatches it with its enormous talons and then takes it to safe place. The eagle is one of the two "physical" methods the force are trialling -- the other being a safety net -- but a trained bird of prey gives officers more control over where the offending drone is brought down to earth. 
 
 What makes eagles effective drone hunters? Their feet have four powerful toes that are strong enough to grip and carry heavy objects, whether it's a wild animal or a heavy UAV. But even though they have toughened talons, drone rotors could still damage the bird. A spokesperson says the force will look at ways to better protect their flying counterparts while they conduct trials over the next few months. ||||| The interactive transcript could not be loaded. 
 
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 This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| The anti-drone arms race just got serious. As tech firms and law enforcement experiment with radio jammers and net-wielding interceptor drones to take down rogue quadcopters, police in the Netherlands are trialling a simpler solution: eagles. The country's law enforcement has teamed up with a raptor training company named Guard From Above to see if birds of prey can be used to safely intercept quadcopters. 
 
 In the video demonstration above, an eagle is seen easily plucking what looks like a DJI Phantom out of the air. However, it's not clear how dangerous this is for the bird. Raptors' talons are incredibly sharp and their grip is strong enough to crush bone, but that doesn't meant they're indestructible and carbon fiber props spinning at full speed can easily cut human flesh. In the video, one of the handlers says that the scales on the eagle's legs and feet keeps them safe, but also mentions the possibility of creating some sort of extra protection for them. 
 
 Still, given the amount of animals who seem to instinctively want to take down drones (the list includes kangaroos, gorillas, geese, and dogs), perhaps the eagles will get some animal backup soon. 
 
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– Dutch police have come up with a pretty crazy way of taking out drones: eagles. Law enforcement in the Netherlands is teaming up with a raptor training company to train the birds of prey to "intercept" quadcopters, the Verge reports, citing local media and a video report. Wired reports that eagles could be a safer way to take down illegal drones, since the other two options involve shooting them down (if the shooter misses, something else could be hit) or jamming their sensors (a disabled drone would drop to earth, potentially inflicting damage; plus, everything in the area would need to be jammed simultaneously). As the Verge notes, though eagles have extremely strong legs and talons, "carbon fiber props spinning at full speed can easily cut human flesh." It's not yet clear if the birds will need extra protection in order to do the job safely. Trials will continue over the next few months, Engadget reports.