A motorist in the Cariboo had the scare of his life this week after an eagle, which he thought was roadkill and put in his backseat, came to life while he was driving.
100 Mile RCMP Staff Sgt. Svend Nielsen said a vehicle pulled into the 100 Mile House RCMP detachment with the animal on board at about 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The driver had been travelling north on Highway 97 near 100 Mile House when he came across a downed and what he believed was a dead bald eagle along the highway.
Nielsen said it appeared to the driver that the eagle may have been struck by a vehicle and he placed the eagle in the rear of his vehicle with the intent to drop it off at the local Conservation Officer Service in 100 Mile House.
“When arriving into town, however, the thought-to-be-deceased eagle suddenly woke up from its (likely) concussion-induced sleep and scared the life out of the complainant as he was driving along the highway,” Nielsen noted in a news release. “The complainant drove straight into the detachment parking lot and met with an officer coming on duty, who gingerly looked into the van, took some photos of the bird and contacted Conservation.”
Nielsen said local conservation officer Joel Kline attended to retrieve the magnificent bird and safely place it into a kennel.
“If you look closely at the photo of the red kennel, you can see the bird is very much alive and likely very upset,” said Nielsen, adding Kline updated the RCMP that the eagle was still doing well and plans were already in the works to get it into a veterinarian and then down to a rehabilitation facility in the Lower Mainland.
“100 Mile House RCMP stresses caution when approaching any wild animal that looks deceased, or you might end up with an upset eagle flapping around in the backseat of your minivan.”
Contact the COS hotline at 1-877-855-3222 or contact your local RCMP Detachment prior to approaching the animal.
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