Warning: This story contains disturbing images.
It’s a grisly sight some Campbell River residents won’t soon forget.
An eagle locked in a mid-air battle flew into power lines Monday, killing the majestic bird and knocking out power to several homes momentarily.
Marcel Laviolette was walking along the Island Highway at Shelter Bay, just south of town, when he saw two of the top predators fighting.
He said one of the birds lost control and went right into the power lines, causing a large show of sparks.
“Huge. I didn’t realize it could make that big of an arch,” said Laviolette. “[Sparks] engulfed the whole bird, you couldn’t see the bird.”
A woman living in the area heard the loud bang and had her power knocked out by the incident.
“I don’t know whether I heard the bang first, then the computer went out, TV went out,” Colleen Jones said.
She grabbed her camera and headed toward the commotion, and that’s when she saw the dead eagle with its talons still wrapped tightly around a wire.
“When you see one hanging like that and it’s dead, they’re such beautiful creatures, it’s pretty wild, pretty scary, pretty sad,” she said.
(Courtesy Colleen Jones)
Neighbours told CTV’s Gord Kurbis it’s not uncommon to see people feeding eagles along the beach in the area, an act considered illegal under the BC Wildlife Act.
Laviolette said the animals appeared to be fighting over a fish head that someone had left behind.
“You don’t want to throw it in the garbage, but do you feed these things? I don’t think so, but whatever, you know,” he said.
A BC Hydro worker attended the scene to remove the eagle from the power lines.
Power to the area was knocked out for several minutes.
