Dramatic photographs show a huge hole in the windscreen after a bald eagle dropped a cat onto the woman’s car as she drove through the US Route 74 highway in North Carolina
911 call after eagle drops cat onto woman’s car windshield
A woman has shared bizarre moment her a cat suddenly smashed through her windscreen while she was behind the wheel after it was dropped by a bird of prey.
The motorist in North Carolina was stunned as she told state troopers that a bald eagle had dropped the feline through the glass through the US Route 74 highway in Swain County on Wednesday.
Photographs show cracked glass and a huge crater in the car’s windscreen, with the shock and impact of the incident at 55mph forcing her to pull over and call the emergency services.
In a recording of her 911 call, she is heard telling operators: “Okay, you may not believe me, but I just had a bald eagle drop a cat through my windshield.
“It absolutely shattered my windshield.”
The operator responded: “I do believe you, honestly.”
One person nearby is said to have been left equally startled by the cat’s sudden descent from the skies, as the driver told 911: “I had a witness who was like, ‘That is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
The operator then went on to confirm her location, before telling her Highway Patrol would be sent to the scene to “do a report”. At the end of the call, the driver confirmed the cat was dead and “on the side of the road.”
The woman was not injured in the incident, Highway Patrol officials later confirmed, with the vehicle towed away from the scene. A witness told the Charlotte Observer local newspaper that they had seen the cat “fighting” in the air with a bald eagle just seconds before it fell.
While bald eagles are known to sometimes target cats, the bird species is usually known to hunt smaller prey, such as fish or other birds. They may go after a cat if it appears vulnerable, such as being young, injured or elderly.
In June 2022, a Yorkshire Terrier narrowly escaped with its life after being swooped on by a bald eagle in its owner’s back garden in Metlakatla, British Columbia, Canada, managing to wriggle out its talons as it was lifted from the ground. The owner said the dog, named CoCo, suffered only a few scratches in the incident and made a full recovery.
