Motorcyclist Saves the Life of an Injured Bald Eagle that was Stuck in Traffic

When Dandon Miller headed out on Memorial Day weekend, he couldn’t possibly have imagined what he would be up to later that afternoon. Dressed in his favorite black and red flannel shirt, he hit the road on his motorcycle and was ready for a day on the bike.

When he was on his way back from Philadelphia, he noticed traffic slowing in front of him, and assumed that there had been some kind of accident. As such, he pulled his motorcycle off to the side of the highway, and his jaw dropped when saw what was causing the jam.

He recalls the discovery himself:

“I looked down to see why everyone was stopping and there was a bald eagle in the middle of the road. Another person was there and they kind of nudged her a little bit to see if she would walk off the road or fly away. She spread her wings open and was not going to go anywhere.”

Dandon loves animals, and he wasn’t about to leave the injured bird helpless in the middle of the highway. He decided that he needed to at before people got impatient and tried to drive past the stricken eagle.

Although the eagle was clearly injured, Dandon didn’t want to risk being caught by her powerful talons. He decided to take off his flannel shirt and threw it over the bird, so he could remove her from harms way. He was shocked when the eagle seemed more than happy to be carried from the busy highway:

“I picked her up and she was very calm. She got a little worked up when people started wanting to take pictures, but we were able to get that under control.”

When he was at the side of the road with the eagle, he decided to call 911 and was put in touch with Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, a rehabilitation center for wild birds. With nothing else to do, he had to stand and wait with the eagle in his hands for nearly an hour while the rescuers made their way to the scene. At 15 pounds, the bird wasn’t light! But Dandon recalls:

“I wasn’t really thinking about it when I was holding her. I was just trying to keep her calm and make sure she knows she’s secure, and I wasn’t going to drop her or anything. It was just amazing to hold that bird and for her to be calm like that. Just amazing.”

After treating the beautiful bird for a few days, the rescue centre was confident that the bald eagle would return to the skies soon enough. It turns out that she had a mild injury to one eye and soft tissue injuries, but fortunately nothing was broken.

As you can see from the video, Dandon’s flannel shirt has certainly seen better days, but he now chersishes it more than ever! As he will always recall the day that he saved a bald eagle from harm on Memorial Day weekend.

Great work, Dandon!