Flying catfish slams into driver’s windshield

American motorists are used to the hazards of marauding wildlife on the nation’s roads but flying fish rarely feature among those that are most feared.

So it’s easy to understand the astonishment of one North Carolina woman when a giant catfish crashed into her car when she was driving last week.

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 a bird that could have bee a large hawk, and said she 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 told FOX 10.

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.”

After the whiskered fish shattered the windshield glass, Walston was at first concerned that her insurance company would dismiss her account as a tall tale.

But her cousin Brandi and cousin-in-law Stuart, who were driving by, pulled over to help her find the catfish — which bounced off her windshield and fell to ground nearby.

 “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 company and explained what happened.

Stuart Barrow 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!”