A motorist in western North Carolina escaped injury when the carcass of a cat crashed into the passenger side of her front windshield along a highway near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
In a call to 911, the unidentified driver on U.S. Route 74 in Swain County, near Bryson City, told a dispatcher that a bald eagle dropped the cat. Bryson City is about 65 miles southwest of Asheville.
It’s not clear if the feline slipped from the eagle’s talons Wednesday morning or was discarded simply because the big bird didn’t have a taste for it.
“You may not believe me, but I just had a bald eagle drop a cat through my windshield,” the incredulous driver said on the recorded 911 call. “It absolutely shattered my windshield.”
“OK. I do believe you, honestly,” the dispatcher responded.
The driver relayed that another person also saw the cat drop, remarking, “He’s like, ‘That is the craziest thing I’ve ever
seen.’ I’m like, ‘Really?’”
Take a listen —
Out Of The Blue: This is crazy!
A woman tells dispatchers that a bald eagle dropped a cat through her windshield. The woman was not injured but understandably shaken by the incident. The cat did not survive the fall. What would you do if this happened to you? pic.twitter.com/get8vyQLrV— John Cremeans (@JohnCremeansX) November 22, 2025
After getting the driver’s location, the dispatcher said she would send the Highway Patrol to do a report. “Another question,” the dispatcher asked. “Is the cat still alive?”
The caller said it wasn’t, but noted that the cat was on the side of the road and not in her car.
“Ok, I have to ask just to make sure,” the dispatcher said.
Kendrick Weeks, Western Wildlife Diversity Program supervisor for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, said the cat dropped on the car could have been roadkill scavenged by the eagle.
“But they can take animals the size of a cat,” he said. “It is much harder for them to take a live cat than a dead cat. They usually don’t prey on something they don’t find palatable. And, scavenging is a common behavior in bald eagles.”
Eagles and other raptors can drop prey for several reasons, including having a poor grip or if the prey is struggling and the birds are trying to prevent injury to themselves, Weeks added.
Prey can also be dropped if a raptor is being harassed by another raptor or the prey becomes too heavy to continue carrying.
Bald eagles are native to North Carolina and most of North America.
Their populations have been increasing, and there are more than 200 nesting pairs in North Carolina. The birds can weigh anywhere from 6 1/2 to 13 1/2 pounds and have wingspans of 6 to 7 feet, Weeks told The Associated Press.
The Associated Press contributed to this article