ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
Australia’s peak scientific body has issued a warning this morning of the dangers of the rapidly increasing numbers of videos surfacing online of people being swooped by errant magpies.
At a Canberra press conference this morning, a CSIRO spokesperson explained that the sheer volume of videos and the popularity of the magpie meme threaten to break the nation’s already fragile internet.
“If there’s one thing that gets everyday Australian’s mashing that share button it’s a video of someone getting swooped by a magpie,” they said.
“So much so, we’ve raised concerns with the Communications Minister this morning about the potential of Australia’s internet breaking under the strain,”
“We ask all Australians to please first consider whether your magpie-related content it worth uploading – and if it is, please do it responsibly.”
Closer to home, Oliver Gaite of Betoota Grove recently uploaded a video to Instagram of him being attacked briefly by the infamous Roberts Road magpie.
He uploaded it on Monday and since then, it’s clocked up almost a hundred views and dozens of likes ‘n’ comments.
Speaking exclusively to The Advocate this morning, Oliver said he felt his video was unique enough to warrant being uploaded.
“I know it’s that time of year when every youth-orientated journalist is expected to write about magpies and how they swoop – like this is the first springtime it’s happened,” he said.
“But what makes my magpie-related content different is that I just got my haircut and I was wearing my favourite raincoat so I needed to tell people about that. So I put it up on my story!”
“So scary. If only my stepdad was still around, he had a 410 that would turn that pesky bugger inside out!”
More to come.
