CNBNews

by Anthony Cormier December 13, 2010

A driver hit the eagle Monday about 4:30 p.m., causing a brief delay for drivers as police and onlookers protected the bird until an animal control officer arrived.

“It came up low, right into the car,” said Julie Walburn, who watched the crash and waited impatiently for someone to come help the downed bird.

The driver, Walburn said, stopped and briefly waited. But with two children in her car, she eventually left.

 PHOTO / ANTHONY CORMIER

Animal control officers pick up a bald eagle from the median of Fruitville Road on Monday afternoon. The bird was injured when it was hit by a car during rush-hour traffic.

After the collision, the bird lay motionless about a block east of Mimosa Drive, near Cardinal Mooney High School.

When an animal control officer arrived — wearing thick gloves, and armed with a blanket and a cage — the eagle mustered enough strength to flap its wings and flash its lengthy talons.

It rose momentarily, then fell back into a row of bushes in the median. The wildlife officer covered it with a blanket, snatched it from the bushes and loaded it into the cage.

The bird was taken to an emergency animal hospital; its condition not immediately known.

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