ONTARIO — After heroically freeing a bald eagle from a hunting trap, two brothers in Canada were able to capture one awesomely incredible selfie before the bird flew away.
Neil and Michael Fletcher posted a picture on Facebook of the two smiling alongside the bird after rescuing it. The brothers told CBC News they found it trappedwhile they were hunting near Windy Lake, outside Sudbury, Ontario, last Tuesday.
“It was relieving to see that it was still alive,” Fletcher told CBC News. “I knew we had to do something right away.”
The brothers said they placed a sweater over the bird’s head in order to keep it calm while they worked to get its foot out of the trap.
“As soon as he realized we were trying to help he kind of calmed down a little bit. His head would kind of move back and forth to look at us, but that was the most he’d do,” Fletcher said.
Once the brothers realized the bird would be alright, they said they knew they had to capture the once in a lifetime opportunity on camera.
Michael Fletchertold BuzzFeed that people are calling it the “selfie of the year.”
They snapped the selfie and also posted this video below on Facebook. The video shows one of the brothers working to free the bird before taking the photo.
Fletcher told the Sudbury Star he was glad he and his brother were able to free the bird when they did before a coyote or other large animal got to it.
“I knew this would never happen again, so before we let it go, I told my brother Michael, ‘we should take a picture with it.’ The bird had its mouth open, but he never tried to fly or bite or do anything,” he told CBC News.
A bird expert praised the brothers for saving the bald eagle.
