A bald eagle had a bit of a fright last Wednesday when it accidentally flew into a trucker’s windshield.
The ordeal was caught on truck driver Scott Burke’s dashcam. According to A Place Called Hope, a rehabilitation centre for birds of prey, the large female bird was stalking prey and scavenging roadkill in Connecticut when it got into the tangle.
A Place Called Hope said in a Facebook post that the eagle dodged a few oncoming cars before flying upwards, only to collide head-on with the truck’s windshield, smashing the glass.
“As she swooped down from a lamp post, with a wingspan of nearly seven feet, her feet touched the pavement in the center lane as blaring horns from a car approaching scared her off,” the post reads.
“The unharmed driver, Scott Burke, stated it happened so fast and it was one of the scariest things he’s encountered in all the 25 years of being a truck driver.”
The truck was going 80 km/h on Route 95 at the time of impact.
Burke was able to pull over on the side of the road and immediately called Connecticut State Police for help.
The bird survived the crash. It hung onto the side of the truck until it came to a halt before scooting underneath the vehicle in fear.
One of the troopers who responded to the call, Officer Alex Blackwell, rushed the eagle to A Place Called Hope.
X-rays were conducted at Pets’ Friend Animal Hospital in Guilford, the rescue said, where it was confirmed that the bird suffered no serious injuries, though the hospital did find that she’d been shot in the past.
In the comment section, the sanctuary added that the bird will remain under its care until she’s deemed healthy enough to return to the wild.
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