Wildlife rescuers say a surprise visitor that smashed its way through the front window of a Port Hardy home Monday night is remarkably unhurt.
An eagle dove through the large double-paned window, leaving a jagged, gaping hole and prompting a woman living at the home to call up rescuers to help her deal with the uninvited houseguest.
Jill Laviolette, a member of the Tri-Port Wild Response Team, has rescued animals before but says even she was surprised to see what was inside the home when she arrived.
An eagle left a large, jagged hole in the front window of a Port Hardy home it crash landed in Monday, May 9, 2022. (Submitted)
“Last night at about 9:15, I got a call from my niece who said her friend had just called her, and said an eagle had dove through somebody’s front window and it sounded crazy,” said Laviolette. “It never happens so I was like, OK I’m getting up, I’ll come see what’s going on.”
She said there was a “ton” of broken glass in the home, with the eagle sitting in the middle of the debris.
“He was quite spooked, but he didn’t look to be injured,” she said.
Laviolette scooped up the eagle and took it to the Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society in Merville, where it was assessed Tuesday — and surprisingly found to be mostly uninjured.
“There’s just a very minor injury under one wing where there seems to be a puncture wound or a possible laceration,” said Gyl Anderson of the rescue society. “We’ll have to investigate that further but very minor injury considering the circumstances.”
A witness of the avian altercation said he saw two birds tangled up as if they were mating, then falling to the ground when a third eagle swooped in. One of them ended up going through the front window while the other two flew away, he said.
Rescuers say the eagle will go through some minor rehabilitation before he’s released back into the wild.
“We’re often surprised at just how tough they are and how much they can handle before they are actually injured,” said Anderson.
“I mean, by the amount of glass and the huge hole in that window I thought something major was going to be wrong but he’s a spunky guy and I guess he just got through it OK,” said Laviolette.
Dean Stoltz
