Dead Goose Plummets From Sky, Knocks Hunter Unconscious

A Maryland goose hunter experienced the worst possible combination of a dead goose and gravity Thursday afternoon. Robert Meilhammer, 51, had the bad fortune of being underneath a dead Canada goose as it plummeted to the ground, knocking out and injuring the hunter, the Washington Post reported.

Meilhammer’s group was hunting waterfowl near the Miles River in eastern Maryland. An unidentified member of the group fired his gun at a flock of Canada geese soaring overhead, which killed one of the geese. That goose fell onto Meilhammer, knocking out two of his teeth and rendering him unconscious.

The hunter suffered a “severe” head injury, per the Washington Post’s report. He reportedly could only remember who he was but not much else when he regained consciousness. He was airlifted to a shock trauma facility after the incident.

Canada geese make their way to every contiguous American state and Canadian province at some point during each year’s weather cycle, according to National Geographic. Their large population, a miracle after being near extinction in the last century, has come back to bite some urban centers. Not only do they produce a great deal of noise, they also drop huge quantities of excrement everywhere they go, causing illnesses and pollution, according to a 2016 New York Post report.