A large catfish slammed onto a North Carolina woman’s windshield on Wednesday after getting dropped by a flying bird.

Rhesa Walston, of Beaufort County, North Carolina, was driving home from her mother’s home with her 3-year-old daughter in the car when she “noticed what looked maybe like a large hawk, and could see it had a catfish.”

“I thought to myself that is a big fish even for a hawk. Then it dropped it right on my windshield and smashed it,” Walston said.

The mother said her first thought was “I have to make sure there is no glass on my daughter, and that she isn’t hurt.”

She said her daughter was fine and that the incident “didn’t even scare her.”

“Then my cousin Brandi and her husband Stuart saw me as they drove by and pulled over to see what had happened,” Walston recounted.


“I said we have to find the fish or there is no way in the world anyone is going to believe me,” she said. “After 15 minutes of searching, Stuart found the fish on the side of the road!”

After that, Walston called her husband, who called their insurance and explained what happened.

Stuart Barrow, who is Walston’s cousin-in-law, recounted his reaction to the unusual occurrence. He said when he arrived on the scene, he “immediately began searching for the fish to validate the story for insurance, but also because I was so curious to see what kind of fish had done so much damage!”

“I had almost given up finding the fish after around 15 minutes of searching and was heading back to the car when I finally spotted the fish lying against a building around 25 ft from the lane she had been driving in! Funny enough, she had correctly identified the fish mid flight! It was a catfish just like she had suspected!” Barrow said.

He said he was “blown away” by the amount of damage that the catfish inflicted on the windshield.

“I anticipated a minor crack from a small fish, but the size of the fish was so much bigger than what we normally see birds with! Having thought about it, the bird must have been a bald eagle because they are really the only bird around here that is big enough to carry such a heavy fish,” Barrow said.

Walston’s cousin-in-law added that “this was definitely a one-of-a-kind experience!”

“I’m so glad we actually found the fish because it just wouldn’t have been as hilarious without it!” he said.

This story was reported from Los Angeles.