Bat in the grille

Bat schmat.

That was a blue-jay 4 months ago. Clean yer dern truck once in a while!

 

Other half just pulled out a quail from underneath his air dome.

Craziest story of something getting stuck in his grill. Well, at the time, it wasn't the grill, it was one of those winter covers that snaps up the middle over the grill, and this was about 15 years ago.

He was driving along, saw a bald eagle fly in front of his truck and thought nothing of it. After a mile or so, he began to hear thumping coming from the front of his truck. He pulled over, got out, and walked around to the front of the truck. There was the eagle, upside down inside the winter cover with its head sticking out the bottom and its feet/talons sticking out the top. Needless to say, the eagle wasn't amused.

He knew of a rest area only a few miles up the road, and drove slowly to the rest area. Got out, got the number for the Deparment of Wildlife and called them on a pay phone (remember this is about 15 years ago). He told them he had an eagle stuck in his winter cover of his truck. They didn't believe him and hung up. He called back again. They threatened to call the Highway Patrol on a bogus call. He told them fine, this is the rest stop he was located at and come and get him.

So Highlander goes back to his truck, which now has a small crowd around it, and this eagle is just screeching up a storm. About 15 minutes later, a statie shows up ready to arrest him. Needless to say, the statie couldn't believe his eyes. He got on the radio and had dispatch call the Dept. of Wildlife. They then showed up about 30 minutes later and still couldn't believe it. They sedated the eagle, cut him out of what was left of the winter cover and took him.

Highlander said he called back about a week later and talked to the agent that had taken the eagle. The eagle, other than being really pissed off, was fine, and was set to be released in the next week.

 

I didn't get a photo, but hit a pheasant in SD the other evening. Knew it was going to happen sooner or later. They are like dove in TX. Made a little dent in grille. I was really afraid to see what had been damaged as he was a pretty good size one. Got to get a BBQ and eat the next one.

 

I hit a small bunny a while back. Must have been running across the road and jumped in desperation when it realized the inevitable. When I discovered it, the only thing left of it was two bunny ears sticking out of my now-cracked grille. Really sad sight, but kind of amusing to look at all at the same time.

 

Here's another crazy one for ya. Highlander ran over a rattlesnake. Later in the day stopped and took a look under. The rattlesnake had bitten into the drive shaft and was still attached via its fangs however, all that was left of the rattlesnake was the skull and the skin. The rest of him, meaning his insides, was back on the highways somewhere. Guess the rattlesnake wanted to take a spin around the block, and got more than he bargained for. *rim shot*

Okay, you can boo me for that one.

As for a pheasant, Highlander was cruisin through Iowa and had a pheasant fly up from alongside the road. It hit his passenger window and shattered it, with the pheasant ending up in the jump seat. Highlander called and reported it and was told he was probably going to get fired for it. He asked why in the world would I get fired for a pheasant breaking his passenger window and ending up in the jumpseat. Because, the man said, you had an unauthorized passenger in his truck. *rim shot*

 

2004 I tagged a full grown bald eagle in my Ford Rollback wrecker. That was a huge hassle. Call the local wildlife authorities, explain the situation on the phone, get treated like a mass murder suspect for 5 hours, finally explain in no uncertain terms that the officers have two choices, arrest now or watch taillights depart scene. Afterwards spend several months getting random interviews during the "investigation" from 3 different LE Agencies.

My last bird strike was a crow dead center into the VW emblem of a friends pristine 1984 Rabbit GTI. I couldnt believe how long it took to find a replacement GTI grill.

 

One late night in Vermont, I noticed a flapping motion on my mirror bracket.
Thinking it was a stray piece of paper or something. I reached out to remove it.
Quite a surprise when I grabbed the bat.
I quickly withdrew my hand and rolled up the window, leaving him to fend for himself.
He finally freed himself and flew off into the night.

 

Dang, that's kinda creepy. Good thing you weren't bitten.