I was looking at it when it struck, faster than I could react. It hit me just below the lip. I felt the blood streaming but felt lucky it hadn't managed to get a hold on me. Only the lower half of its beak hit me. The fearsome, hooked upper beak missed.
Eagles use their sharp, powerful beaks to rip flesh from their prey.
It could have ripped my face open. I handed the bird to Davidowski who wasn't smiling when he took it. As I bled, the warden took the bird, carefully avoiding a head-on approach to its beak, and Nielsen clipped the hook with wire cutters. The only blood in sight dribbled from my wound, flowed into my chin whiskers and dripped to my shirt. The eagle required no further attention.