Police Rescue Bald Eagle Trapped in a Car Grille
— -- A Florida sheriff's office was called in to rescue an iconic American bird of prey that got trapped in the grille of a car.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office in Florida shared images of a bald eagle trapped in the front of someone's car on Saturday, and they quickly garnered more than 10,000 reactions on Facebook.
Billi West, who took the photos, told ABC News today that she spotted a man driving on a highway with a bald eagle poking out of the grille of his car but he seemed to not know it was there.
She said that when she and her son saw the bird sticking out of the front of the car, at first they thought it was a decal.
"People put eyelashes or whatever on their vehicles," West said. "But then the bird turned and looked at me, and I said, 'Oh, my gosh!'"
West said that she and her son signaled for the driver to stop his car and that he was just as shocked when he found the eagle trapped in the front of his vehicle. She then called the police, who helped release the bird and handed it over to the BEAKS Wildlife Sanctuary, a local animal rescue group.
"He is doing really well," West said of the bird. "There are actually no injuries at all, and they will hopefully release him next week."
She said she estimated the bird had been in the front of the man's car for about 10 minutes before they stopped him. She said it took them about 20 minutes to figure out how to get the bird free.
"We didn't expect this to go viral," West added, saying that as soon as she posted the pictures on Facebook, all her friends started sharing them.
