Weekend's Oddest 911 Call: Bald Eagle Stuck in Car Grille

Rescuers think the bird flew in front of a car while hunting
By Elizabeth Armstrong Moore,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 10, 2016 4:03 AM CDT
Bizarre Post-Hurricane Rescue: Bald Eagle Stuck in Car Grille
Local police and fire and rescue personnel in Florida rescued a bald eagle from the grille of a car and named it Matthew after the hurricane. The bird is now in the care of a wildlife sanctuary.   (Clay County Sheriff's Office)

The Clay County Sheriff's Office in northern Florida has been busy in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, but one emergency call over the weekend has gotten more attention than the rest: a bald eagle stuck in the grille of a car. Local police and fire and rescue were able to remove the bird without incident and turn it over to the nearby Bird Emergency Aid and Kare Sanctuary, whose owner, Cynthia Mosling, says the 7-year-old male will be released if all looks good post-checkup, reports CNN. He's been dubbed Matthew, after the storm.

Mosling, who herself had evacuated inland earlier in the week, says a driver saw a weird shape at an intersection in the grille of an oncoming car, but then noticed that it was moving and chased after the car. After telling the driver there was a bird in his grille, they called 911. Rescuers think the eagle likely flew into the parked car's grille while chasing prey, reports 6 ABC. The sheriff's office says "great job by all involved" in a Facebook post that includes several photos of the rescue. (After post-WWII pesticides sent bald eagles to the brink of extinction, one might have been born in Manhattan for the first time in a century.)

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