Photo: Cindy Vagle
(Kittson County, MN) -- A Minnesota woman has quite a story after hitting a bald eagle with her pickup. The bird became stuck in her grille. Cindy Vagle was on her way to church Sunday in Kittson County when she saw the eagle on the road.
She knew it flew into the front of her vehicle, but she didn't know it was stuck there. She told NewsRadio 1040 WHO, "I slowed way down and then as i got right up on it, all of the sudden it just flew up and I didn’t have time to break or anything and it just hit the front of the truck. But I couldn’t see it. It hit it down low below the hood. I looked in my rearview mirrors and my side mirrors. I didn't see it on the road or anything maybe it flew into the ditch or it was okay and flew away. "
Vagle continued to drive for four miles unknowingly with the eagle stuck with its feet in the grille. Once she got to the town she was headed to, she got out to check for damage. "I got out of the truck and I was like oh my Y goodness what the heck? This bird was stuck on the front of my truck alive and looking at me turning his head back and forth. And I was just like so surprised, oh gosh what do i do."
Photo credit: Cindy Vagle
She says it took more than an hour for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to arrive and free the bird back into the wild. Vagle said she did not consider helped the eagle herself. "I knew that bird would probably peck at you i didn't have gloves or anything to protect me. He had quite the beak, I wasn't going to attempt that."
Vagle was concerned the bird was injured or would die in her grille. The DNR says it was not injured.