Fish-Toting Eagle Crashes Into Alaska Home

AP ^ | 6/14/5

[SmithL]

KETCHIKAN -- A bald eagle crashed through a window of a home and landed in the living room, scattering broken glass, feathers and a salmon carcass across the floor. Homeowner Jean Stack heard the crash and initially wondered if someone had thrown a dead fish through the window.

"I stopped in my tracks and thought, 'Oh my gosh," she said.

But then she heard her neighbor, Kurt Haskin, yelling. He saw the whole thing from his deck.

Haskin had been drinking coffee and watching eagles from his deck shortly before 6 a.m. Monday. He said one eagle was on his roof, and three more were in a nearby tree. Another pair occupied a tree across an alley.

"They were fighting, thrashing around; there were leaves and limbs (shaking)," Haskin said. "This was all within 50 feet of me, and I was thinking this was pretty cool."

Then one eagle swooped out of the nearby tree, up past Haskin's head, around the eagle on the roof and back behind the tree, said Haskin.

"I didn't notice it was packing a fish when it swooped over me," he said.

The eagle re-emerged and bore down on Stack's bay window, which is about 15 feet off the ground.

"It just grenaded that window," Haskin said. "The window didn't even slow it down."

[Ladysmith]

WOW! That's a KEEPER! LOL!!!

(Consider it stolen!)

[Kathy in Alaska]

LOL! Watching the paper, hoping for a picture.

[hispanarepublicana]

Ya'll, quit pinging me! I'm having to work late and you're making me even later!!!
;-)

[RightWhale]

Birds don't see the window glass, but why they would want to fly through a window frame into a building is a mystery. A robin flew through my front door a couple weeks ago, but he was trying to attack me. He was greatly surprised to find himself in a constrained space and probably blames the whole incident on me. But he keeps some distance now unless I turn my back.

[Dashing Dasher]

I have a LARGE collection of Bird Strike shots.
As a pilot - they have a way of ruining your whole day.

I actually had a friend who we believed was killed when a bird flew into her canopy and knocked her out - she ultimately collided with the ground. They found bird blood in the wreckage - and that's our only clue as to why she crashed.

Damn Birds!

[Dashing Dasher]

Ping!

[tet68]

Hey squirlly, you feel the mind meld yet?

[ken5050]

Go visit the Alaska raptor sanctuary here..It's a fantastic place..I spent a day there once during a cruise years ago, and I've sponsored bird for the last 15 years. To hold an eagle in your hands is an amazing experience..

[Zacs Mom]

Birds and planes ~ always a nasty mix. I seem to recall reading about a pilot or co-pilot on a commercial flight who killed when a snow goose came thru the windshield of the air borne plane...as I recall the plane landed safely but the sky jockey had been killed out-right.

The damage resulting in the bird strike in this image:

is absolutely astounding!

[Dashing Dasher]

Let's assume an airplane is traveling at 200 mph and the bird - a BIG BIRD (not the yellow one) is traveling at about 5-30 mph.

That's one BIG impact.

I have more pix if you are interested - one goose took the top off the airplane. I'll check for it and post in a few.

[Dashing Dasher]

This plane was hit by a goose at low altitude.

[Zacs Mom]

That is incredible! I'd have thought that a creature made up of primarily liquid, thin (and hollow) bones and feathers would just disintegrate on such an impact.

[Dashing Dasher]

Different story - same theme.

[dfwddr]

Only you could come up with that image on no notice.... you are amazing !!!!

[Zacs Mom]

Now critters thru the windshield of a vehicle I understand ~ I have an aunt who was crippled for life when a deer came through the windshield of a car in which she was a passenger. She was lucky to have survived at all.

check out these images:

What's unique here is that the Durango didn't hit the deer.....the deer actually fell onto it from the bridge visible in the background of the first image!

[dfwddr]

Now PETA will have to call for extermination of the eagles, because fish are intelligent beings and the eagles didn't do an, um, environmental impact study

NO, now PETA will want to abolish windows, because that is what is causing these animal deaths !!!!

[Dashing Dasher]

I have tons of them in a file - just for days like this!!!

[hispanarepublicana]

work is done!

[Zacs Mom]

I'm sure you've seen this site http://wildlife.pr.erau.edu/Pictures.htm - but just in case you haven't, you will enjoy it

[speedy]

The three little words that mean more than any other.