Cat From the Sky
On November 19, 2025, at 8:17 a.m., Melissa Schlarb, 28, was driving on US-74 in Swain County, North Carolina, on her way from Robbinsville to her job as a bank teller in Cherokee. A bald eagle flying overhead dropped a cat through her windshield.
The windshield shattered. The cat was dead. Schlarb was not injured.
Her 911 call: "I just had a bald eagle drop a cat through my windshield."
NBC News: Bald Eagle Drops Cat Through North Carolina Windshield
How This Happens
Bald eagles are opportunistic predators and scavengers. They regularly prey on small mammals, including cats. An adult bald eagle has a wingspan of up to 7.5 feet and talons capable of exerting 400 pounds per square inch of gripping force. They carry prey while flying and will drop it if startled or if the prey is too heavy to maintain altitude.
A domestic cat typically weighs 8 to 11 pounds. A bald eagle can carry approximately 4 to 5 pounds in sustained flight. Larger prey is carried short distances and frequently dropped.
In this case, the eagle apparently caught or scavenged a cat, flew over US-74, and dropped it — directly onto Schlarb's vehicle. The cat went through the windshield. The eagle flew away.
CBS News: Bald Eagle Drops Cat on Vehicle Windshield in North Carolina
The Viral Story
The story went viral immediately. It is bizarre, it is specific, and it has a 911 call quote that sounds like fiction. But it is entirely consistent with known eagle behavior. Eagles drop prey. Cars have windshields. The intersection was inevitable.
What the viral coverage missed: this is a wildlife interaction caused by free-roaming cats. The cat was outdoors. Whether it was a pet, a stray, or a feral does not change the fact that it was available to an eagle because it was outside.
Indoor cats do not get carried off by eagles. Indoor cats do not get dropped through windshields. Indoor cats do not create highway hazards.
The Pattern
Cats on roads cause accidents directly — darting across highways, forcing drivers to swerve. On the 91 Freeway in California, a cat caused a three-car pileup. In dozens of cases annually, drivers are injured or killed avoiding cats in the road.
Now add a new category: cats dropped from the sky by birds of prey.
The outdoor cat problem is not limited to disease, wildlife predation, and neighbor disputes. It includes property damage from above. Melissa Schlarb needed a new windshield because someone's cat was outdoors.
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