Christabel Duah
They say to keep your rifle pointed at the ground, and wear orange to be visible. All good tips for safety, but it seems these hunters missed the note about birds falling from the sky.
Videos by Rare
51-year-old Robert Meilhammer was hunting with a group of his friends when a flock of geese took flight around them. As hunters do, the group fired on the bird and one of the falling geese landed on Meilhammer, knocking him unconscious, reported Fox News.
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Maryland Natural Resources Police spokeswoman Candy Thomson confirmed the accident to the Baltimore Sun.
“One of the members of the hunting party shot and killed the goose,” Thomson said. “It is unclear which one it was.”
The falling fowl reportedly left Meilhammer with severe injuries, including facial fractures and the loss of two teeth.
“It’s a really unusual, freaky accident,” said Thomson. She estimated that the bird that dealt Meilhammer such a serious blow was the size of a “small turkey.” He “didn’t know too much besides his name” once he returned to consciousness, Thomson said.
“He’s lucky,” she added. “Those birds weigh a lot, and falling back down to earth, they’re going to pick up a lot of speed. It’s gonna leave a mark.”
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If the unlucky fowl had somehow survived, the hunters may have ended up like the Indiana detective who was caught on video being chased down by a wild goose.
Lt. Shane Bassett of the Clarksville Police Department mercilessly uploaded the video of his colleague’s misfortune to YouTube, where it has been viewed more nearly 200,000 times and counting.
“Detective Hall forgot his keys… he then attempts to enter the building and is challenged by our local geese….. bad decision,” Bassett wrote there at his colleague’s expense. “Final Score: Geese 1 Detective 0.”
