Great Horned owl strikes vehicle on I-10, gets stuck in grille

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Strange moments were caught on camera this Halloween as an owl got stuck in the grill of an SUV in the north Valley.

The homeowner discovered the trapped bird Thursday morning and it was still alive.

"All the sudden, I heard this noise and I thought somebody had hit me or something," Annette Hanson said.

Hanson was driving along Interstate 10 Wednesday night when she felt something slam right into the front of her truck.

"My husband was riding in the car with me and he says, 'oh my gosh, there's a bird!'" she said.

Annette and her husband were right.

"That's the owl right there in the grille of the Toyota," she said.

The bird turned out to be a great-horned owl. By the time the couple returned home, they realized the owl was still alive, but stuck.

"We tried ourselves a little bit last night, but we were afraid of its talons, they're so big," Hanson said. "We were afraid if it did get out, it could attack us."

Annette and her husband didn't feel it was safe to set the bird free, so the next day, the couple called Liberty Wildlife for help in freeing the animal from the SUV's grill at their home near 67th Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Road. They were able to cut the metal and pry it apart until the bird was free.

"He looks okay. He'll be X-rayed to see if there are any broken bones and once he recovers, then he'll be released," said Ford Doran of Liberty Wildlife.

Liberty Wildlife staffers say if the owl cannot be released into the wild, it will be cared for by a foster family.