A driver in North Carolina told emergency responders that a bald eagle dropped a cat that crashed through her windshield, police said.
The incident happened around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday on U.S. Route 74 in Swain County, North Carolina Highway Patrol said. The driver was not injured.
Highway patrol did not provide additional information.
A photo shared by officials showed the car's broken windshield with a massive hole.
In a 911 call, obtained by CBS News, the driver told the dispatcher that the cat probably did not survive.
"OK, you may not believe me, but I just had a bald eagle drop a cat through my windshield," the 911 call said, according to WLOS. "It absolutely shattered my windshield."
The driver told the dispatcher that another person also saw the cat drop, remarking, "He's like, 'That is the craziest thing I've ever seen.' I'm like, 'Really?'"
The dispatcher offered some assurance, saying, "Oh my goodness. Let's see. I've heard crazier."
"Well, that's terrifying," the caller said, to which the dispatcher replied with, "Yeah."
Bald eagles are predatory birds that can stand up to 3 feet tall and have a wingspan stretching more than 8 feet. They weigh between 8 to 14 pounds and can typically carry things between 3 to 5 pounds. Bald eagles are native to North Carolina and most of North America.
Domestic cats are about 2 feet long and weigh between 5 to 20 pounds. While bald eagles can carry smaller cats, they are not a common prey for the bird.
In 2019, a large catfish crashed through a woman's windshield in North Carolina afterreportedly getting droppedby a flying bird.
Kendrick Weeks, Western Wildlife Diversity Program supervisor for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, told the Associated Press the cat dropped on the car could have been roadkill scavenged by the eagle.
"But they can take animals the size of a cat," he said. "It is much harder for them to take a live cat than a dead cat. They usually don't prey on something they don't find palatable. And, scavenging is a common behavior in bald eagles."
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